The Quick and Easy Path
by SovereignGFC
Summary: USS Voyager has just passed a nebula with elevated neutrino emissions. Despite the possibility of a way home, Janeway orders her ship to continue on. Millions of light-years away, a war against extragalactic invaders has become dire, leading the New Republic to send a ship-of-last-resort to a distant galaxy in hopes of finding a place to escape the invaders...
1. To The Journey

A/N: Yes, this is different than everything else I've posted here. Yet another universe/crossover, not related to anything previous (no wormholes to the Citadel).

 **Chapter 1 – To the Journey**

"You know, whatever was in that nebula probably wasn't worth the risk of being assimilated."

Harry Kim, endless fountain of optimism, hated to admit it but if _Tom Paris_ wouldn't go along with his idea to use the _Delta Flyer II_ to snoop around looking for a shortcut home, it forced him to reevaluate his line of thinking.

"Where's _your_ sense of adventure, Harry?"

Kim exhaled.

"Very funny, Tom."

The number of times the crew of USS _Voyager_ thought they might find a shortcut to cross what at the beginning had been over 70,000 light-years and decades of travel would be depressing if viewed in isolation. However, considering the experiences had so long as nobody got turned into a Borg drone, infected by Species 8472, had organs stolen by Vidiians, or innumerable other hazards… Well, _Voyager_ 's crew had actually survived all this and more—they'd be on the lecture circuit for _years_ upon returning home!

Tom yawned.

"Unless you want to do some quick runs in _Captain Proton_ , it's 2200 hours. I'm beat!"

"It'll be there in the morning. Besides, I'm headed for the night shift!"

Paris took his turn at an annoyance exhale. Harry Kim served on the night shift (a little more eagerly than most) for years—yet remained at the rank of Ensign despite having more practical experience than people several ranks above back home. He would bring this up when crew evaluations came around again—and he wasn't the only one thinking Kim demonstrated the gumption to earn more responsibilities. Chakotay had also supported such a notion in passing.

In her quarters, Kathryn Janeway tried to quash a nagging voice in the back of her head. What if that nebula had in fact contained a faster way home? She'd made decision after decision that while procedurally sound and morally upstanding, lengthened the trip home. Some called it the stress of command, though lower-deck rumors were less charitable. Still, given the situation, thankfully such talk faded over time rather than bulging out into a Maquis-style mutiny.

"You can't spend your time asking 'what-ifs'" she chastised herself out loud.

On the bridge, Harry Kim sat in the Captain's chair.

"Some days, I wish something would happen" he sighed. "Not a Borg cube or anything, I'd take a weird nebula, or an expanding star."

"You keep talking like that, and something's gonna happen. And when it does, I'm telling Janeway it was you!" joked another night-shift crewmember. It almost seemed as if the universe itself followed _Voyager_ 's shifts—most of the "action," as it were, took place during the primary shift.

The relative quiet did allow for rotations that might otherwise be discouraged—an example being Ensign Samantha Wildman operating the science station in Seven of Nine's absence with her daughter Naomi shadowing.

Kim befriended the Captain's Assistant, if only because she brought as much enthusiasm for the night shift as he did (likely due being allowed to stay up past bedtime). In fact, more than once, an exhausted Samantha would offload her hyperactive, overly-awake daughter onto Harry so she could get some rest. The girl didn't care if they went through the same tour of engineering or the shuttle bay they'd done dozens of times before—by the end, Naomi would collapse from tiredness and Harry carried her back to the quarters she shared with her mother.

The first few times this happened, Tom Paris ribbed Harry mercilessly for being "the ship's babysitter," but always concluded with an affirmation that he'd be a "great dad" if he could only "divorce Starfleet."

"You sound like B'Elanna, you know that?" Kim would always reply.

This evening, Harry pulled out his recorder. When Naomi had asked for music lessons, he'd hesitated due to never having taught music before. He feared not being up to the task, until Seven of Nine suggested he start on a simpler instrument than his favored saxophone/clarinet. Hence the recorder.

"I've been practicing!" she announced.

"That's always good to hear. Let's see what the Anthem of the United Federation of Planets sounds like this week…"


	2. Meeting

A/N: _Star Wars_ picks up during the pre-Disney Expanded Universe New Jedi Order era. As usual, I'm not hot on dealing with existing _Star Wars_ characters—it's their technology and how it interacts with other universes that interests me more than who wields it.

 **Chapter 2 – Meeting**

"Admiral, sensors are picking up a ship."

Jason Proudmoore, placed in command of NRSS _Redemption_ , figured he'd be remiss to not drop out of hyperspace to check up on whatever this was. They were, after all, explorers.

Sent away by the New Republic as defeat against the vile Yuuzhan Vong loomed, NRSS _Redemption_ had once been an Imperial _Executor_ -class Star Dreadnaught. Now, shorn of half her weapons, equipped with a long-range hyperdrive and provisions more fit to a science vessel than a ship of mass destruction, _Redemption_ would finally make first contact with extragalactic peoples beyond the local cluster.

They'd lost the link to the New Republic a long time ago. The war might be won, lost, or stalemated, but it was not a concern for _Redemption_ 's crew. All knew they were signing up for a one-way trip.

"Dropping out of lightspeed."

The blackness of space returned, replacing the blue-and-white of hyperspace.

"Unknown vessel, we are extragalactic explorers. We come in peace."

 _At least this thing can't be much of a threat, I hope_.

"About 350 meters long, unknown configuration" reported operations.

 _No duh. We're a galaxy away—if it were a ship we recognized, that would actually be scary_.

"Offensive capabilities?"

"Nothing we recognize. No visible turrets or batteries, though some ports may be missile launchers. One hanger, estimated two to four squadrons of fighters based on keel length."

"Have they received our message?"

Proudmoore wanted to know whether they would be treated as hostiles or merely a curiosity.

"Not that we can tell, sir" replied a woman in communications. "It's possible their comms are not compatible with ours."

"This ship has over one hundred types of communication systems, some over five centuries old in design!" he replied, allowing some incredulity to creep into his voice despite recognizing that it made complete sense technology would be different in this new galaxy. "I would hope we'd be able to at least use something basic."

"Using the forward floodlights to transmit blink code, sir."

During his next regular shift, Harry Kim got his wish.

"Captain, I'm reading a massive energy surge less than a hundred kilometers off our port bow!"

 _Another anomaly. It seems like we run into those once a week…_

"Well, Harry, what is it?"

"Captain… These numbers… They can't be right. They're off the scale!"

"We're in the Delta Quadrant. We've encountered a dimension that is entirely filled with matter, a telepathic pitcher plant, and a vehicle from twentieth century Earth. Surely, a few overly-large numbers can't be that alarming."

"Whatever they are" replied Kim, "they're so massive half the quadrant probably knows about them."

"I must concur with Ensign Kim" added Tuvok from his tactical station. "These numbers, if correct, suggest a level of energy not achieved even by the Borg. Any vessels within several thousand light-years may be attracted to whatever just happened."

"The surge is gone. But there is a very, _very_ large object in the place where it just was."

Without being prompted, Kim put the image onscreen.

"Well, that certainly doesn't look like any ship we've ever encountered" said Tom.

"Mr. Kim's proclamations regarding the size of this anomaly were justified. This vessel is nineteen kilometers in length. I am running a tactical analysis now."

Chakotay could only stare. Whatever this was, its great grey, triangular-shaped bulk blotted out quite a bit of background as it moved. Even Borg cubes were not this big. The only comparable vessel would be those created by the Voth, and even those were several times smaller!

"Can we hail them?"

Kim responded in the negative. "I've been trying, Captain, but they're not responding."

"At least they're not shooting" commented Chakotay.

"This ship matches no vessel in our database" concluded Tuvok.

"Bridge to astrometrics."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Seven, you're seeing what we're seeing. Any ideas on what it might be?"

"The Borg have assimilated many species and thousands of types of ships. This resembles nothing the Collective has ever encountered."

"Tuvok. If this vessel becomes hostile, how dangerous will it be?"

Janeway disliked assuming the worst, but any adversary this much larger had to be taken seriously.

"Its weapons match no known configuration. They appear to be plasma-based, however, I am unable to get a clear reading on exactly how they operate. The vessel's reactor is interfering with our sensors."

The bridge viewscreen showed what could only be guns of some kind, grouped into batteries, from various angles as _Voyager_ 's sensors examined them. Some had two barrels, others one. What might have been some kind of torpedo system among the gun barrels was also evident.

"Based on sensor returns from these weapons, I do believe they are powered down, assuming the reactor is not simply masking their true state" reported Tuvok. "I am sending all data to astrometrics and engineering."

Tom Paris caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Wait a minute. Is that what it looks like?"

"What?"

Tom pointed at the viewscreen.

"It's some kind of pattern. It's not Morse though."

"Maybe they are trying to communicate with us. Seven, have you detected anything that might be a transmission?"

"Negative Captain, though I have not yet checked all frequencies and modulations."

"Keep on it" ordered Janeway. "Check lesser-known bands."

"The computer's trying to decode the pattern" reported Ensign Kim. "It's picked up on repetitions, but hasn't been able to make sense of it just yet."

"How complex could it be?" asked Lieutenant Paris, somewhat taken aback. A computer core that could house an EMH, having trouble with a Morse-like code?

"For all we know, they could speak an entirely different, more complex language. Remember when I showed you Korean script?"

Tom had to concede the point.

"You got me. But I don't think they're speaking Korean."

"Should we reply?"

Captain Janeway let out a small laugh.

"Tom, you're the one who's always using Morse code in your holoprograms. Assist Harry in transmitting a response in Morse. Just keep it professional! I'm headed in for the night—wake me if you need me."

"Yes ma'am."


	3. Resistance is Not Futile

**Chapter 3 – Resistance is Not Futile**

"UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE AT COORDINATES 274-62-MARK-60. SENDING VESSELS TO INVESTIGATE."

 _Seven of Nine. Why did you not heed my warning?_

The former drone felt something bubbling inside her, an emotion. Anger. Here was the Queen, appearing to her during a regeneration cycle. Again.

"Voyager has done nothing" she replied. "Captain Janeway would not knowingly endanger her crew by returning to an area with high Borg activity."

 _Then why have we detected an energy surge within light-years of the nebula? Are you testing a new weapon?_

"Your cortical node must be malfunctioning" shot back Seven of Nine. "Or has the Collective forgotten its tactical advantage over Federation vessels?"

 _Your captain is annoyingly resourceful. Determined. Difficult to predict._

"We are no threat to the Collective. We simply want to return home. The energy readings you have detected are not from Voyager."

Unlike their last chat, Seven did not find herself knocked out.

"Seven of Nine to the Captain."

"What is it?" Janeway sounded groggy, as if woken.

"Captain. At approximately 2230 hours, my regeneration cycle was interrupted by a message. If I have in turn interrupted your…sleep cycle, I apologize, however, due to the nature of the message I found it necessary to inform you personally."

"From who?" Janeway had a bad feeling about this. Nothing good ever came from being woken this late at night.

"The Borg Queen. She believes the anomaly we detected was related to us testing new weapons to use against the Borg."

"And I'm sure you told her we would never dream of starting a fight with someone whose modus operandi is 'Assimilate or be destroyed' using weapons far more powerful than our own."

"That is correct. However, I cannot be sure that she will not follow through on her threat to send tactical vessels to our location."

Janeway's brow creased. Not only was it past her shift, but now a chance to meet what could possibly be a new species was being thwarted due to Borg paranoia.

"Coffee. Black."

"Captain to the bridge."

 _This can't be good_.

Harry Kim began giving his report as he vacated the Captain's chair.

"Captain, two Borg vessels just appeared from a transwarp aperture. Graviton emissions are off the charts—I can't get a reading on how many more might be coming through!"

"Newcomers on the scopes, Admiral."

"What the hell is that?"

Shaken heads all around the Star Dreadnaught's bridge, until a crewman at sensors did the best he could by stating the obvious: "Whatever it is, there are ships pouring out of it."

"Are they hostile?" demanded Admiral Proudmoore.

"Not yet. However, they are significantly larger than the vessel we first encountered, and as such they could be more dangerous."

A second later, green beams lanced out from the spheroid newcomer, lashing the smaller gray ship.

"Well, they're definitely hostile to those people! Should we engage?" asked tactical.

"Hold your fire!" barked Proudmoore. "We have no idea what's going on here. For all we know, these could be criminals on the run from their government."

Communications interrupted.

"Sir, we're receiving a transmission from the new arrivals."

"…SURRENDER YOUR SHIPS. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

"Well, that doesn't sound like negotiation to me" said Proudmoore. "Still, only fire if…"

Flares over _Redemption_ 's bow answered that question.

"Return fire, all batteries!"

"Shields at sixty-two percent" warned Tuvok. "The Borg seem to have upgraded their weapons since our last encounter."

"Have they adapted yet?" asked Chakotay.

The bridge viewscreen depicted a Borg sphere with a small fire courtesy phaser strikes.

"It appears not, Commander. However, I estimate we only have a few more shots before they do."

"Tom, get us out of here, maximum warp!"

A bump and glow suggested such actions were no longer possible.

"I am remodulating our shields in an attempt to break free" said Tuvok with his characteristic calm.

The cube exploded without warning, pitching _Voyager_ about.

"What happened?" demanded Janeway.

"The cube was destroyed. By the large vessel we encountered several hours ago."

Janeway frowned. The last time _Voyager_ encountered a species who could defeat the Borg that easily, they turned out to be hostile beings from another dimension bent on "purging" her home galaxy. Yet, no evidence existed that suggested _this_ ship was anything like Species 8472.

"This might not be the best time" interrupted Harry Kim, "but the computer's decoded the message we got earlier! It says to rotate our comm frequencies…"

"Well, do it!" ordered Janeway.

"…Republic Starship Redemption to unknown vessel, we are peaceful explorers. We wish to establish communication, trade routes, and diplomatic relations with any sapient species in this galaxy willing to listen. This message will repeat. This is the New Republic Starship Redemption…"

Captain Janeway resisted the urge to jump for joy. _Finally_ someone not bent on assimilation, hunting, harvesting, timeline-tampering, enslavement, or just plain old destruction. Assuming these people were being honest, of course.

On the viewscreen, blue lightning played over a Borg cube.

"This cube has been entirely disabled" reported Tuvok. "Weapons, shields, life support… All non-functional."

A volley of green blasts resulted in a brilliant green-orange explosion.

"The rest of the Borg are retreating" added Kim with some level of relish.

"Can we get a transmission out?" asked Janeway. "Using the same frequency that automated message is playing on?"

"Yes ma'am."

"This is Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager, please respond."

"Seven of Nine to the bridge."

"Not now, Seven, we're trying to establish communication with this new ship!" replied Chakotay.

"Commander" she pushed back "how can we be sure this is not another deception? This series of events is highly improbable: an advanced vessel that can easily defeat the Borg appears without any context. Perhaps the pitcher plant spread itself throughout the Delta Quadrant."

Chakotay looked down, before bringing his head back up and turning to Janeway.

"Seven's right. This is too convenient. Unless our friend Q has something to do with it…"

A new voice entered the bridge.

"I assure you, _Redemption_ is not an illusion. I am Admiral Jason Proudmoore of the New Republic Navy, and I have no idea what you are talking about regarding, um, 'pitcher plants.'"


	4. Second Opinion

**Chapter 4 – Second Opinion**

Captain Janeway motioned for Ensign Kim to mute audio temporarily.

"Bridge to the Doctor."

"Yes Captain?"

"When we were caught by that bio-plasmic lifeform, our sensors were not totally deceived" she said. "We detected bio-plasmic discharges _before_ we became completely enthralled by the creature. Do our current sensor readings match anything you saw?"

She also transmitted all sensor logs to astrometrics.

"Seven, I want you to analyze these. Look for anything that matches the pitcher plant."

"Yes Captain."

"Unmute audio, Mr. Kim."

The voice on the other end sounded irritated.

"…would like to meet you in person, if you would be willing."

Proudmoore's eyes narrowed. Whoever he'd been talking to had not responded to several sentences and requests for introduction.

"I do apologize" came a woman's voice, the same that he'd heard before. "We had to confirm that you weren't some form of deception."

The New Republic admiral decided not to take this as an insult, as strange as it was to be thought of this way.

"When you've seen as many strange creatures as we have, you learn that not everything is as it seems. As I said, I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. We would be glad to meet you."

Information scrolled across the captain's console from both sickbay and astrometrics. Nothing out of the ordinary—no bio-plasmic readings, no lifesigns, and apparently, no pitcher plants.

"I will board my shuttle at once!" replied Proudmoore.

Janeway gave Chakotay a look. A ship this big and advanced with no transporters?

"Sir, we could beam you over" she offered.

"You could what?" She might as well have suggested he swim through space from his incredulous response.

"Never mind."

Proudmoore and his guards took a _Lambda_ -class shuttle, standard fare for virtually any engagement. His pilot, however, turned to him in confusion.

"What is it?"

"Sir…" She didn't want to say it, but blurted it out anyway as they approached _Voyager_ 's aft. "There's no way we'll fit in the indicated bay. This ship is too tall."

Proudmoore laughed.

"Well, that's just great, isn't it. Not only did our comms not match, but now our ships don't fit either. Then again, what do you expect being a galaxy away?"

"Proudmoore to Janeway."

"Yes Admiral?"

Now he felt the same embarrassment as his pilot.

"With all due respect, my shuttle appears to be… _incompatible_ …with your docking facilities."

"We'll beam you over. Stop your engines, lower your shields, and don't move."

Unsure what else to do, Proudmoore complied.

The next thing he knew, he, his honor guard, and his pilot were standing in a room surrounded by beds. It looked like a medical bay.

 _How did this… We were sitting!_

A red-haired woman in a matching red/black uniform greeted him. He hadn't seen her enter.

"You must be Kathryn Janeway."

She smiled and shook his hand. That these newcomers appeared to be exact matches for humans who also spoke her language unnerved her, but she refused to let that show.

"I'm sorry if transporters are strange to you—most species we've encountered possess the technology."

"But first I was here" he said, gesturing with his hands to his left. "And now I'm here!" His hands moved to his right.

"Yep. That's pretty much how they work. At least until you take Transporter Theory 101. Then you get into the Heisenberg compensators, biofilters, pattern buffers, phase discriminators—it's enough to make a cadet's head spin!"

Proudmoore looked slightly queasy.

"As long as it works I'm not too keen on how" he replied.

"I apologize for not being here in person" said Janeway. "But we have to make sure you're not infected with anything."

"What do you mean, not here in person?" demanded Proudmoore. "I just shook your…"

His eyes lit up.

"Clever!" he chuckled. "Synthdroid, or Human Replica Droid! And here I was thinking we were the only ones carrying HRDs! Are you this paranoid with everyone you encounter?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about" replied Janeway. "This is a hologram that I'm controlling from one of our holodecks."

"Hologram?" blurted Proudmoore. He repeated himself. "I just shook your…"

"Indeed you did" replied the Janeway hologram, amused at this turn of events. "However, what you touched was a collection of photons and forcefields that act quite real."

"Doctor? Please tend to our guests, and let me know when you've cleared them."

Janeway disappeared.

Proudmoore shook his head in confusion as a partially-bald man in a teal uniform approached.

"I am the chief medical officer of USS Voyager. I will now conduct a basic series of examinations…"

The Doctor's speech trailed.

"You're human!" he sputtered.

"Well, what did you think we were?" replied Proudmoore sarcastically. "Bothan?"

"Well, know, you don't look like Botha at all. But your genetic code is an exact match for baseline humans! Fascinating!"

"How did you get my genetic code?" demanded Proudmoore. "That's private information!"

"Not when you cycle through a transporter it isn't" replied the Doctor as if this were a silly question.

Proudmoore glared at him.

"Not to worry, doctor-patient confidentiality protects what we've learned."

"For all the trouble we had with the comm system, you appear to speak Basic" started Proudmoore. "I have no idea how that's possible…"

"We were also surprised" replied the Doctor. "We thought it was just the universal translator doing its work, but here we are, having a normal conversation in sickbay. Marvelous!"

"What's this talk about 'pitcher plants?'" asked the Admiral. "Can you verify I'm not some kind of crazy hallucination nor a bioweapon plague-carrier so we can get on with the business of diplomacy?"

"Of course!"

As the Doctor ran his tests, he related an abbreviated story of _Voyager_ 's near-destruction at the hands of a "bio-plasmic lifeform."

"Never heard of it" replied Proudmoore gruffly. "Nearest I can tell is a space slug, and they don't use the Force to capture their prey!"

"The what, now?"


	5. Conversation

**Chapter 5 – Conversation**

"Welcome. Please, have a seat."

Captain Janeway said nothing about Proudmoore's likely-armed guards. Instead, she matched his show of force by bringing Tuvok and five of her own security staff to stand on her side of the briefing room. The two commanders matched their escorts, taking up opposite ends of the table.

"To begin, where are you from? Who is this 'New Republic?'"

"Ordinarily I'd send you a datastream with all relevant information" replied Proudmoore. "However, it appears high-throughput communications systems are not yet compatible. Do you have any droids?"

"You mean androids?" replied Janeway. "No, we do not have androids on Voyager."

 _It seems many terms have different meanings_ thought the Admiral.

"I'll be very straight with you, Captain. We are here because we were losing."

"Losing a war, I presume?" She didn't want to judge—especially since some actions taken by _Voyager_ through the Delta Quadrant had obviously altered the balance of power.

"Yes. Against an extra-galactic invader called the Yuuzhan Vong. Anti-technology religious fanatics who believe all non-biological advancements should be wiped out as incompatible with their faith."

"I assume negotiations…"

"…went about as you can expect" interjected the Admiral. "We get everything we want, including destruction of the Jedi and technology plus eternal slavery, your concession is that we let you live. Obviously, most of us hundred-quadrillion sapient beings said no to that so-called offer."

"A hundred-quadrillion sapients? Your galaxy must be massive!"

"From what we can tell, it is rather ordinary. Just well-populated and mostly explored, considering we have hundreds of thousands of years of history… Though that may be irrelevant due to the invasion, however my crew deliberately avoids concerning themselves with what is going on in a galaxy that by now is quite far away."

"So you were an arkship of sorts."

Janeway began to understand why this newcomer's vessel was just so _big_. That didn't explain the shuttle though, whose top wing was unnecessary from an engineering standpoint. In fact, all the wings were poorly-designed from an aerodynamic perspective, but that wasn't the purpose of these conversations.

"Yes. At least our society will endure here, in this galaxy, since…"

The Captain cut him off.

"Not that you're unwelcome, but this is not, as you just saw, the most hospitable part of our galaxy, given that the Borg just tried to assimilate you."

Proudmoore's eyes slid to a chronometer, and he stood abruptly as if to leave.

"It did not occur to me that it would be so late for you. On our ship, it is only 1300 hours—but here, it is barely past 0200! Please, if I am interrupting in any way…"

Janeway laughed.

"In Starfleet, one of the first things new cadets learn is that the universe doesn't care what time it is—nebulae will explode, hostile aliens will attack, and viruses keep doing their thing. Even if it is the crack of dawn!"

She motioned to the replicator.

"Would you like some coffee?"

The Admiral declined, but sat back down.

"I need more" insisted Janeway.

"Coffee, black!"

"You have a chef whose job it is to hand coffee through a slot in your briefing room?" Proudmoore knew these people probably found aspects of _his_ ship ridiculous, but this was on a whole different level.

"No Admiral, this is called a replicator. It uses a complex process to convert energy into matter, including food, water, and other consumables. It can also create weapons, medical supplies…"

"And you thought we were an illusion created by a pitcher plant!" exclaimed Proudmoore. "Now I'm the one wondering if I need to wake up."

His tone darkened.

"Unless this is Sith alchemy…"

One of the robed guards behind him spoke.

"The Force is absent from this room, other than ourselves."

"Stop me if I am being intrusive, but that's the second time I've heard you refer to 'the Force'" said Janeway. "Well, the first time I've heard it directly, but the Doctor mentioned you spoke of this 'Force' while in sickbay."

"It is an energy field that surrounds all living things" said one of the guards, unprompted. "It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together."

A hand went up, and Janeway's PADD floated off the table.

"Telekinetic powers. Does everyone have these abilities?"

Now it was Proudmoore's turn to laugh.

"Of course not! But those that possess a connection to the Force can do far more than move a handheld computer. For instance…"

He motioned for one of the robed beings to step over. Whatever he told them must have caused confusion since she could hear a "Sir!" and subsequent rapid conversation. Eventually, the guard produced a silver cylinder, which was held in front of them.

SNAP-HISS.

A blue blade appeared as if from nowhere.

"Admiral, are you sure about this?"

"Jaina, you are one of the best Jedi Healers we have. If you suddenly can't treat a level one lightsaber burn, I would count myself surprised."

The older man held out his hand, and an awful smell assailed the nostrils of everyone in the room as his palm blistered. Tuvok moved to intervene, but Janeway ordered him to stand down.

"Whatever he's doing, it's some kind of demonstration. He deliberately requested this."

Proudmoore grimaced, holding up an obviously burned hand. He lowered it, and the pain faded from his face as the robed being "Jaina" did something. He held his hand up again.

"Good as new!"

"That's pretty impressive" remarked Janeway, "but what I'd really like to know is how your ship defeated the Borg, the most powerful known species from the Delta Quadrant, so easily."

"Frankly" replied Proudmoore, "if these are the strongest enemies you face, we have nothing to worry about. Their weapons barely did any damage to our shields, and our attacks tore them apart."

"I wouldn't underestimate them" warned Janeway. "If they get their hands on any of your technology, we could be looking at a force nobody in this galaxy would have any hope of stopping. That's what the Borg _do_. They take technology and information from everyone they assimilate, and use it to aid in their pursuit of perfection. Well, what they consider perfection, anyway. You should speak to Seven of Nine. She used to be part of the Collective and can further expand your understanding of exactly what it is capable of, despite your show of force."

"And she will not object to it being so early in the morning?"

"No. She works too many hours as-is. I've just learned to accept it—after all, she's part Borg and has the endurance to match."

The Captain decided to patch astrometrics through to the briefing room rather than taking Proudmoore there in person—it would be faster.

"Seven of Nine here. What do you require, Captain?"

"Our guest is a little uncertain of how dangerous the Borg are—he seems to think they, and possibly we by extension from our fear of them, are pushovers."

"These assumptions are flawed" replied Seven. "But justified. Based on data we have received about his vessel, it possesses firepower and defenses of a scale that would render even the most powerful Borg attacks ineffective. However, should the Collective obtain this vessel's technology, the situation would rapidly change, likely in favor of the Borg."

Proudmoore gave Janeway an irritated look.

"She just said the same thing you just told me. That convinces me to take them as a threat how?"

"It's obvious we have a substantial disagreement" countered Janeway. "Suffice it to say if the Borg show up again, we won't have to worry. _For now_. On another topic, I'm also interested in learning how you got here. Why did your government pick our galaxy?"

"I'm not privy to the why, but I can tell you the how. Long-range cruising hyperdrive. Equivalent to a class-4 to maximize distance traveled, but can accelerate to a class-2 if needed."

Now Janeway took her turn looking confused.

"I assume this 'hyperdrive' you speak of is some kind of effectively-faster-than-light propulsion system."

"You would be correct, Captain. We departed our galaxy a little less than a year ago on a journey that covered around two million light-years."

"You covered two million light years in… Are your years longer than ours?"

"To express it in what I would imagine is a universal constant, multiples of the speed of light, we travel at two million times its velocity in a vacuum. Our highest speed is ten million times the speed of light, though fuel consumption is a significant issue at that veolcity."

 _At that rate, his ship could cross our galaxy in days. Our best warp engines don't break three thousand times the speed of light! The only engine that comes close is quantum slipstream._


	6. Set a Course For Home

**Chapter 6 – Set a Course For Home**

Jason Proudmoore woke up in his borrowed "quarters" aboard _Voyager_.

"So small, so cramped! It's like some kind of frigate!" he said to nobody as he dressed. "This holographic technology is incredible though. I can't wait to have our science teams analyze it!"

He and his guards had been placed in a holographic recreation of a Risa resort hotel. They'd demurred the usual pleasures associated with such things, opting only to sleep. For food created from warp core energy, his eggs benedict that morning were excellent. The Admiral met Janeway in her ready room, resuming their conversation/negotiation from the early morning.

"Now, we want to learn more about this galaxy. You want to get home. They say not to pick up hitchhikers but I see no harm in helping other intrepid explorers along!"

"Then we agree!" said Janeway. "We will exchange technology, culture, and other information as we go. How long did you say this was going to take again?"

She wanted to hear it as many times as he would say it.

"Assuming our calculations turn out correct, and they almost always do, less than thirty hours."

The Captain hid an inappropriately-large smile, as she had several times before upon hearing how fast hyperdrives could be.

Proudmoore turned to his beeping comm, putting it on speaker.

"Yes?"

"Sir, this data… It's immensely complex. I hate to say it, but it may take longer to plot the jump than to actually get where we're going!"

"Captain to astrometrics."

"Go ahead, Captain."

"Seven, what did you send them? They say the dataset is so big it's going to take two days to process!"

"I did exactly as you instructed. I sent them a complete catalogue of all astrometric data from both the Alpha and Delta quadrants."

Janeway tilted her head.

"I think you might have forgotten a rest stop or two. Can you try to cut it down, and send it again?"

"Captain. There are millions of stellar phenomena that would impact travel. It is inadvisable to remove these from the dataset as it would endanger our trip. In addition…"

"Seven. Just cut out anything that isn't along the route. You remind me of Icheb and his reports!"

"We were once Borg. We both desire to be thorough."

"And I appreciate that" replied Janeway. "But right now, we don't need thorough, we need fast!"

"Captain" said Proudmoore. "The only concern for a hyperdrive is gravity wells. Beyond that, all of your nebulae, inversions, and other weirdness-of-the-week doesn't matter to us. Hyperspace is an entirely separate dimension that is unaffected by these things!"

"Cleaning up this data will take some time" came Seven of Nine's voice from the ready room's comm. "It may be more expeditious to simply process the data as-is."

"In the meantime" said Proudmoore, "I suggest docking Voyager with my ship. That way, once we're ready we can depart immediately."

 _Voyager_ easily fit into a hanger designed to handle Star Destroyers several times _Voyager_ 's length in _Redemption_ 's prow. Indeed, two of them were docked—yet more examples of extreme engineering scale by these extra-galactic newcomers.

 _Captain's Log, Supplemental, Stardate 54975.6: It took some time, but after the crew realized this new ship would actually be bringing us home, the celebration spread like a wildfire. I've relaxed certain protocols regarding consumption of synthehol. I'm grateful to note that no negative incidents have been reported as a result. In fact, the only incident worth mentioning was another Borg attack. It's taking some getting used to that 'Borg attack' doesn't mean red alert and crossing our fingers. This second wave seemed oddly uninterested in fighting, spending more time attempting to scan the newcomers than anything else before being destroyed._

Tom Paris made motions as if dusting off his hands—not that holodeck programming actually caused any dirt.

"There. Now everyone will be able to experience it."

The senior staff of USS _Voyager_ would be welcomed as guests on the bridge of NRSS _Redemption_. Anyone else who wanted to watch their first jump to hyperspace could do so in the two holodecks.

"I fail to understand the purpose of having structural weaknesses that lead directly to vital areas" sniffed Seven of Nine (everyone else was generally impressed with the view).

"Well…" Proudmoore sounded slightly embarrassed. "Yes, it is a problem. But we weren't the ones who designed this ship, and, oh…forget it." His tone turned lightly mocking. "Crash _one_ A-wing into a bridge and all of the sudden we can't have a nice set of panoramic viewports."

Comments from _Voyager_ 's crew compared hyperspace to quantum slipstream in appearance, though with the obvious caveat that this didn't fully encapsulate what hyperspace looked like.


	7. Devolution

**Chapter 7 – Devolution**

"Denara Pel. Blasphemer, traitor!"

Few Vidiians could still spit properly through all the grafting that held them together. Those that could, did.

"Your actions run counter to everything it means to be Vidiian. You have no respect for our culture, our struggle, or our traditions. Your cure is a lie, and you have betrayed us to the enemy!"

Dragged before a series of holographic avatars representing the Sodality, Dr. Denara Pel found herself arguing medical ethics with those who, in her opinion, long ago lost sight of the meaning of the phrase.

"The Think Tank told us we would need to be patient" she hissed through gritted teeth. While her body had not yet returned to a completely deformity-free state, she was actually recognizable as something other than a pile of grafts.

"Patience is not something we have in great supply" replied a council member. Indeed, the treatment's speed could at best be called "glacial." It did not escape her notice that most of those glowering at her were older.

Far from restoring Vidiian society, the Think Tank's cure opened a schism. Many younger Vidiians like Pel were more than willing to wait while the antiviral ran its course. Their elders, however, were torn between distraught and infuriated.

"This will work" insisted Pel. "It takes time! The medical board should at least understand that!"

Instead, they sent her before the present council, being "unable to substantiate" her findings.

"Your guilt has already been determined. Now…"

Proximity alarms went off, bathing the whole proceeding in orange.

"Guards! Restrain the prisoner."

Pel looked at them with contempt. "You are no better than the Hirogen! You pilfer technology like tractor beams from other species—why? So you can keep hunting for organs even though if you would just _wait_ ¸ the phage would be defeated by this medicine? Are you too proud to accept help?"

Then the whole station slid sideways, as though yanked by an invisible hand. On the bridge, an angry station commander demanded an explanation.

"Whatever we just captured outmasses us by several orders of magnitude."

The blue-white of hyperspace entranced many viewing it for the first time.

"Now, not to alarm you or anything" said Admiral Jason Proudmoore, "but some ships blank all their viewports when jumping to lightspeed. Not everybody can just stare at it for hours on end!"

"The medical database he sent over does mention psychological conditions supposedly caused by observing this…hyperspace" intoned the Doctor. "If any symptoms appear, alert me immediately!"

Proudmoore showed particular interest in the Doctor, as his ship possessed no compatible holo-emitters yet here the holo-doc was, just like in _Voyager_ 's sickbay.

"We didn't invent this one" replied Captain Janeway while pointing at the mobile emitter on the Doctor's shoulder. "A little bit of time-travel and rule-bending."

Not two hours passed before NRSS _Redemption_ dropped to realspace with zero warning. Inertial compensators minimized crew injury, though the ship itself sustained structural damage.

"What happened?" demanded Proudmoore.

"Interdiction field" replied sensors, sounding for all the world like this was the Coruscant Security Zone.

He turned to his counterpart.

"Does your civilization have anti-lightspeed devices?"

Janeway snorted.

"You'd think so, with all the times the warp drive couldn't be used—but it's just the weirdness of this galaxy. Still, technological means to prevent ships from jumping to warp exist. Pulling ships out of warp is another thing entirely."

"Whatever it is, we're at sublight speed now" reported operations.

"Picking up a…space station" added sensors. "Small, only a few hundred meters in length. Venting some kind of fuel or coolant."

The rest of _Voyager_ 's senior staff got involved in the conversation.

"This is ridiculous. Let me guess, this is another threat I am underestimating?" snapped Proudmoore as the relatively tiny installation appeared on a holoprojector. "Even the original Golan platforms were bigger than this!"

"Size is no guarantee of strength" said Tom. "I've seen my wife take out far bigger guys than her…"

"I'm not sure if that's strength, or just Klingon stubbornness" replied B'Elanna Torres. "Either way, it works!"

"Admiral, the station. It's…moving with us."

"What do you mean?" asked Proudmoore.

"Sir, it appears to have locked on with some kind of tractor beam, but it might as well be a Jawa trying to slow down a bantha. We're also reading small fluctuations in our shield grid."

"Incoming hostiles, port bow!"

Four warships not found in _Redemption_ 's database appeared, weapons blazing.

"Link to Voyager's computer—figure out who's attacking us!" ordered the Admiral. Before that could be done, the entire Star Dreadnaught rocked gently, like a large seafaring vessel hit by small waves.

"Sir!" reported tactical. "The attackers are gone."

"What do you mean, gone?" demanded Proudmoore. "Did they cloak?"

"In our experience, the Vidiians lack that ability" said Tuvok. "However, we have not encountered them for some time—over a year. It is logical to assume that a society whose primary means of survival is stealing organs from still-living beings may have either developed or obtained a technology that makes this process easier."

Proudmoore's face twisted into a sour expression.

"Stealing organs? That sounds like some kind of Coruscant undercity street gang."

Tactical finally got a chance to explain where, exactly, the four ships went.

"The bump you just felt? These attackers fired their weapons, then attempted to engage what we think is some form of faster-than-light propulsion. Without checking to see if the path ahead was clear."

"Sir!" reported an ensign at operations. "We are receiving reports of intruders in cargo bay AA-23."

Tuvok's eyes narrowed.

"If they have in fact boarded your vessel, I must request to accompany your security forces. Their weapons are highly unusual, and we have dealt with this threat several times."

Seven of Nine also stepped forward.

"My unique physiology makes me resistant to their attacks. I shall join you."

"Patch their comm badges into the ship's internal network" ordered the Admiral. "We'll want regular updates!"

As the team left, Proudmoore turned to Janeway.

"Now I really wish we had transporters. And those comms look useful as well."


	8. Medical Emergency

**Chapter 8 – Medical Emergency**

"Medical emergency!"

"That's the fifth one you've called in" replied dispatch aboard _Redemption_. "And you're not the only one. Did the Death Seed break out in Cargo Block AA or what?"

"You… You wouldn't believe it if I told you."

By the time Tuvok, Seven, and Proudmoore's security attachment arrived from many kilometers away, the intruders had been blasted. The number of casualties inflicted far exceeded the size of the boarding party, much to the concern of the responding security forces.

"Report!"

"Ma'am, we have killed twenty-three intruders, but have taken over two hundred casualties. Medical scans of the injured and dead are nonsensical. See for yourself!"

"Do they appear to be missing vital internal organs?" asked a blonde woman wearing a cobalt bodysuit nobody recognized. "If so, this is exactly what is to be expected from a Vidiian attack."

"Yes, that's exactly it!" squawked a medic. "Smith's lung, Struebing's kidneys, Windsor's spleen… And apparently Long was killed for his _ear bones_?"

"The Vidiians suffer from a unique disease that attacks them at the cellular and genetic levels" explained Tuvok. "Since they are unable to cure it, the species engages in widespread theft of organs from still-living hosts, then use these stolen bodyparts to extend their own lifespans."

Seven knelt by a large device the size of three briefcases side-by-side.

"This appears to be some kind of transporter-loop storage device. It allows a large number of organs to be temporarily carried in a pattern buffer before rematerializing them in a more appropriate setting."

The crew of _Redemption_ just stared blankly.

"We must relocate this device and your crew to Voyager immediately, if we are to have a chance of saving them" said Tuvok.

"Gather your casualties into this room. I will assist you. Their lives depend on it. Move quickly" intoned Seven.

"Tuvok to Janeway."

"Yes Tuvok?"

"Medical emergency. Order Voyager to prepare for a large site-to-site transport."

"What the hell just happened?" demanded the New Republic Admiral.

"My guess is that when the Vidiians crashed into us, it weakened your shields enough to let somebody beam aboard" suggested Harry Kim. "As to how they caused over two hundred casualties in the space of fifteen minutes—well…"

"Who's the pushover now?" asked Tom Paris to his friend, a little too loudly.

Janeway glared at him, but said nothing.

"Admiral, we did detect a fluctuation in shielding" added operations. "It wasn't much, but in theory if a proton torpedo were headed our way at precisely the right moment it would have found zero impediment. Both ray and particle shields weakened for one point seven-three seconds in that area."

"Sounds about right for having four antimatter warp cores detonate against your ship" said Janeway sardonically. "The Doctor is already back in sickbay aboard Voyager. We're treating your people as fast as we can!"

"Blood gas infuser!"

The Doctor sighed as a drafted Tom Paris handed him the requested instrument. "Now I'm going to need holographic kidneys. This is going to be an interesting day…"

"No kidding, Doc" said Tom. "I knew the Vidiians were crazy, but this is a whole different level!"

"Now now, Mr. Paris, not _every_ Vidiian is, as you say, 'crazy.'"

"Oh. Yes" snapped Tom. "Because one acting normal means the whole rest of the species should be absolved too. Right."

"Now is not the time to argue philosophy, Mr. Paris! Inaprovaline, maximum safe dose!"

Seven of Nine found herself pressed into medical duty due to her extreme speed and efficiency as she sorted out which crew members could be saved before applying a preconfigured holographic organ program to now-immobilized patients. Other personnel sorted through the transporter-loop container, beaming organs back out into storage until they could be matched with their owners.

Captain Janeway had to deliver the news.

"Admiral, it is my deepest regret to inform you that only fifty-seven of your crew survived."

Proudmoore's fist met a control panel.

"Well, I'm going to shake that little space station until I get some answers. If you want to see more of what the Jedi Guardians can do, this is going to be your best chance!"


	9. Forced Perspective

**Chapter 9 – Forced Perspective**

"I'm glad we agree. Obviously, neither myself nor my crew could do anything if you did decide to shoot first and ask questions later, but I'd rather travel in the company of people who view force as a last resort."

As the more experienced in dealing with these "Vidiians," Kathryn Janeway and her senior staff would be present in Admiral Proudmoore's ready room when he opened a channel. Though the station had released its hold on _Redemption_ , the battleship did not reciprocate, locking several of its own more powerful units onto the station and any craft attempting to flee.

"Your comms should be adapted by now" reported Harry Kim. "You should be able to talk to them the same way you do anyone from your own galaxy."

"This is Admiral Jason Proudmoore of the New Republic. You are receiving this _one_ chance to explain yourselves for the deaths of over one hundred and fifty of my crew."

He'd wanted to add "through methods barbaric and uncivilized" as well as taking other stabs at the perceived lack of morality of the Vidiians but had been talked down by the Doctor, Janeway, and, oddly enough, B'Elanna Torres.

"So the heretic has friends now!" came the reply. "Denara Pel summons those who will get their hands bloody on her behalf!"

"I have no idea who you are referring to" replied Proudmoore, somewhat bombastically. "I do not represent any interest within this galaxy."

"Then why do you consort with known enemies of the Vidiian Sodality?" demanded his counterpart. "Captain Kathryn Janeway threatened to use deadly force if her ship ever ran across our species again!"

"Yes, I did" said the Captain, "but that was because your actions nearly resulted in the death of an innocent crew member of mine. Using the organs of the deceased is an entirely different moral plane than taking from the living without permission."

"So you would sentence us to die?"

"Trading lives is not my business" shot back Janeway.

"There are billions of you! What's one human, more or less, when an entire species will cease to exist? The scientists and the doctors, they have been promising advancements for years, and yet, we receive nothing. The Honatta are in charge now!"

While the onscreen Vidiian ranted, the Doctor pulled his Captain aside.

"If they're holding Denara here, we should try to free her!"

"I agree" said Janeway quietly, "but one sentence is not proof that she is in fact here. For all we know, she could have organized an entirely separate faction, and this is simply a case of mistaken identity."

"…useless gesture, no matter what biological data they obtained! This so-called cure will see over half the population dead before it begins to have any effect!"

The last sentence snapped heads.

"There's a _cure_ for the phage?" Janeway had to keep herself from shouting. "And you're still doing _this_?"

She gestured angrily at Admiral Proudmoore.

The Vidiian's words oozed contempt.

"A slow-acting, high-potency, low-resistance anti-viral that, through the course of multiple treatments, gradually wipes out the phage in a way that prevents it from adapting. The therapy can take decades—many of us will not live that long."

Captain Janeway struggled to find words. This disease had ravaged the species for two thousand years, and when an opportunity to wipe it out presented itself, it was _rejected?_ Even Q made more sense than this!

She signaled for Proudmoore to close the channel.

"Something else has to be going on" she began in clipped tones. "This doesn't make sense."

"You recall that this representative mentioned the Honatta are in charge" interrupted the Doctor. "They are responsible for organ harvesting—both from the dead and the living."

"Based on the information we got from the exchange, anyone suffering from a disease like this who won't take a cure is utterly insane" snapped Proudmoore. "My guess is something political—if what he said is true then I wouldn't be surprised if those who won't live long enough to be cured are angry. Though why they would spite their own children…"

He suddenly pivoted.

"Prep Guardian teams. We are going to pay our friends a visit."

Tuvok and Janeway walked briskly with Proudmoore as he headed to a large hanger bay.

"Have your science types figured out how these Vidiians caused casualties on such a massive scale?"

"Yes" replied the Vulcan. "It was an extremely wide-dispersal transporter. The Vidiians drew your security forces in, then let the weapon loose. In the open area of a cargo bay, very little existed to interfere with its operation."

Proudmoore held up a datapad. "According to these security logs, many of my crew were ambushed, and as casualties mounted larger and larger teams were sent in. Each was defeated. As to how this happened without me being alerted or someone using a different tactic—that's a topic for another day."

A door opened, revealing assorted weapons and other tactical equipment.

The Admiral handed Tuvok and Janeway ovoid belt-clip-size objects.

"Put these on. They're personal deflector shields, and since transporters don't seem to work through shielding they should protect you. I still don't understand why you as command officers insist on heading into battle personally."

A small detachment of personnel from _Voyager_ stood among the robed Jedi Guardians, twenty-four of them, four from the Federation ship. They introduced themselves to Kyle Lurtarn, the squad commander for this mission.

"I, too, am puzzled by your participation. Nevertheless, here are extra power cells for your shield generators. Will you be requiring armaments?"

"Not necessary" replied Captain Janeway. "Voyager, energize."

A crate of compression phaser rifles appeared. The Federation representatives did avail themselves of offered magnetic boots, however.

The team boarded assault transports Omega One and Omega Two.

"At T-minus 5 seconds to boarding, _Redemption_ will bombard the target with ion fire to disable security systems. Use all necessary force to secure a beachhead, but try to capture any data you can find. We can only hope the ion bombardment doesn't fry every computer on the station."

As their transports approached, the promised barrage of blue blasts struck the Vidiian outpost.

"Target disabled. The light is green!"

Predictably, fail-safes slammed hangers closed. Just as predictably, both assault transports landed belly-first on these sealed hangers, unleashing their Corusca cutting blades. Boarding parties disembarked, carefully avoiding burning themselves on still-hot metal.

Captain Janeway's tricorder beeped frantically as she held it aloft, her phaser rifle in the other hand.

"Life support's offline. On a station this big, we should have more time than we need before that becomes a problem, but let's not hang around!"

WHOOOMP.

A Jedi Guardian sliced a floating container that missed his head by centimeters.

"It appears that the artificial gravity has failed as well" added Tuvok.

Voyager's Doctor stepped forward. "Let me lead."

"Your crew is rather brave" remarked Kyle Lurtarn.

"I just happen to be immune to weapon fire" replied the Doctor.

"Hologram" explained Tuvok. "We will have time to discuss cultural and technological differences at a later time under less dire circumstances" he added, preemptively cutting off Lurtarn's questions.

Lurtarn vaulted over the heads of his comrades, blocking white-blue beams with his blue lightsaber. The redirected weapons fire scored a container instead. Seconds later, an explosion startled the party.

"These Vidiians were killed due to a detonation of their organ-carrying device" affirmed Seven, kneeling over fallen foes.

Several lightsabers and phaser rifle lights played over the scorched container.

"Thermal detonators" explained Lurtarn, as the symbol was unknown to their Federation guests.

"Though I do not believe in such things, a human might call this karmic retribution" said Tuvok.

"That would certainly discourage them" said Janeway, her voice rising. "But I'm not about to embed explosives in my chest cavity."

Jaina Raynor, the healer with a green blade, spoke up on their ambushers.

"I sense an unusual amount of animosity aboard this station. There is hatred, anger, fear."

"Do these people have this 'Force' you speak of?" asked Captain Janeway, letting the smallest amount of panic creep into her voice.

"No" she replied, somewhat taken aback. "As a healer, it is my job to empathize with others. This station is red-hot with rage."

"Like a Betazoid" replied Janeway.

Ignoring the unrecognized term, Jaina continued with her explanation. "This means we will likely be attacked every step of the way. We will protect you, but I must remind you that we are guardians, not soldiers."

 _For all this talk about not being militarily inclined, they sure have a hell of a way of showing it_. Janeway filed away the thought to ask Proudmoore later.

No casualties were incurred by the boarding party on the long walk to the station's main spire, though a few stray shots were harmlessly absorbed into personal shields issued by Proudmoore. The sole obstacle manifested itself in the de-powering of turbolifts leading up to the base command center, but twenty-four Jedi Guardians made it trivial to move them in an unpowered state.

Upon reaching this apex, Kyle Lutarn leapt across the circular room, holding his blade to the throat of a male Vidiian "whose anger burned so hot I felt it when we arrived."

"Now" started Captain Janeway. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but attempts at diplomacy have been unfruitful. Why are you rejecting the cure?"

Jaina sorted through a pile of captured Vidiian weapons, yanked away through Force pulls.

"The cure is an illusion" sneered the base commander who identified himself as Dullahan. "We will never see it."

"So you not only continue to steal organs, but you also condemn others, _of your own species_ , who might benefit. Why?"

"As is often the case, there is more than one side to this story" intoned Tuvok. "I have accessed the station's computer using Dullahan's credentials. Though it appears to be coincidental, Denara Pel is in fact being held here. She may have information useful to us."

"That traitor!" roared Dullahan. "She would have us abandon our ways to lay in hospital beds, helpless and weak!"

"It appears that she is scheduled to be executed" continued Tuvok.

"We have to do something!" shouted the Doctor. "Don't just stand there!"

"Calm yourself, Doctor. Unless this turns out to be one of Mr. Paris' Captain Proton simulations in which prisoners are sentenced to death by boredom, there is no imminent threat to her life. She is the only lifesign in that area of the station."

Four Guardians departed to retrieve the hematologist after being given directions.

"Once we retrieve Dr. Pel, we're leaving" said Janeway in that steely, dangerous tone that suggested anyone arguing would have a very rough time. "And you're coming with us!"


	10. Ultimatum

**Chapter 10 – Ultimatum**

 _Captain's Log, Stardate 54979.1: We have returned with the Vidiian leader Dullahan. He has been brought before Admiral Proudmoore to face any consequences our new friends choose to impose as a result of his actions._

"If you haven't noticed, you may have bitten off more than you could chew!" said the Admiral in a rather boisterous tone. Expecting a response from his prisoner, he received only the smallest of glares.

"Captain Janeway here tells me that she once made a similar promise to you organ-thieving types, and why bother inventing my own spiel when adapting hers works just fine? If I ever, _ever_ run across anybody like you again, the only exchange we'll have is my turbolaser fire liquefying your hulls!"

"Well, that wasn't _quite_ what I said, but I'm not going to argue with him" added Janeway. "Still, I highly suggest that you restrict yourselves to preying on those who share a similarly-unique approach to morality as you do."

"Your actions have been nothing but hostile" finished Proudmoore. "I don't want to fight, but if I have to, I will. Don't make me destroy you."

"Seven of Nine to Janeway."

"Yes Seven?"

"We have completed our analysis of the Vidiian anti-warp weapon. Lieutenant Torres has also finished planting explosives that will destroy it once we depart."

The Captain turned to Dullahan.

"Once our teams are away, we will send you back to your station. If it were up to me, you'd be on your way to a Federation jail to await trial and likely a lengthy prison sentence, but it appears the good Admiral is more merciful than I would have been. Consider yourself fortunate."

Detonation shockwaves went entirely unnoticed by the crew of _Redemption_ as the Star Dreadnaught's inertial compensators completely absorbed the small explosion of a few photonic charges blowing the bottom off the station which dragged their ship from lightspeed.

"I sincerely hope we do not see them again."

Janeway couldn't disagree with Proudmoore's statement toward the dematerializing Dullahan. The Vidiian situation was certainly tragic, but the means they'd chosen to alleviate it were unjustifiable in her view, _especially_ since a cure now existed.

Were Tom Paris present, he might have called the Doctor's reunion with Denara Pel "mushy stuff."

"It's working. It's slow, but it's working!" she exclaimed upon being re-introduced to Captain Janeway, along with Admiral Jason Proudmoore in the latter's briefing room.

"And that caused a divide in the Vidiian people?"

"Sadly, yes" explained the hematologist to the Captain's question. "Many Vidiians will not live long enough to be cured, and even among those who would, grafting is still necessary in the meantime."

"So how did you end up here?" asked Proudmoore. "Please, tell us your story!"

"A Vidiian aid convoy en route to one of our colonies was hailed by a Malon waste export vessel. Obviously, we started shooting."

"What rationale would there be to do that? I recognize that many organics find the Malon _unpleasant_ , but an unprovoked attack seems ill-advised."

Denara smiled.

"Oh, Shmullus. I must not have told you about the Vidiian's relationship with the Malon…"

"You did not, please, enlighten us."

"Well, from what you told _me_ about your ship's reaction to this… _Redemption_ … Vidiians being told the phage had been cured elicited a similar response. Nobody believed it at first, and the fact that the messengers were Malon just added to our doubts. You see, a long time ago some of our more aggressive Honatta tried to harvest organs from Malon—the waste export vessels were smaller and easier to board back then. But even these Malon were contaminated with theta radiation, so much that it wasn't worth it to process their organs."

"I assume these Honatta crossed Malon off their list of viable targets" said Janeway.

"Indeed they did" replied Pel. "But the damage was done. Have you heard about the Malon myth of Vihaar?"

"We have. In fact, we helped dispel that myth" said the Doctor with authority. "These so-called 'Vihaar' were simply Malon driven mad by being exposed to excessive theta radiation. Malon waste export ships would never pass Federation health and safety standards!" His tone suggested he found this shocking or incredible.

Denara chuckled. "I don't think that is a big concern for the Malon. The Vidiians became another myth—the 'organ thieves.' Malon ships adopted a shoot-on-sight policy for any Vidiian vessel. The reverse became true as well."

"So much for diplomacy" breathed Janeway.

"That's not all. As you can imagine, the Malon are not the most careful people. Some Vidiians accepted medicine brought by Malon vessels only to sicken and die even more quickly from theta radiation that contaminated the cargo."

"Classic" boomed Proudmoore, "a case of 'Nobody talks, everybody dies.' I've seen that far too many times in my own galaxy."

"I may not always agree with him, but Tuvok and his Vulcan logic would be a welcome addition to this situation." Janeway stood and continued speaking. "So what is the status of the cure now?"

"As you can see" (Pel gestured to herself) "if given time, the cure will work. But the key is to convince other Vidiians to give it that chance. I have convalesced faster due to the generosity of your Klingon crew member—most in my state would not make half this progress in twice the time I have been taking the medicine."

"So the Vidiian government thinks the cure may have been sabotaged by an enemy" reasoned the Doctor. "Is there a way we could…"

Proudmoore cut him off. "If this is as similar to conflicts in my own galaxy as I think it may be, the time for logic has long passed. In fact, it may have never existed—emotions rule the discussion and both sides refuse to accept anything other than complete admission of guilt by the other despite knowing they are equally culpable for escalation."

Dr. Pel's face turned distressed, sad. Her voice became more strained with each word.

"There is no logic here. Many Vidiians have not only become fatalistic about our chance as a species, but in the process have begun to draw pleasure from the one thing that all Vidiians have in common—the need to harvest organs from others. The hunt has ceased to be a means to an end, instead becoming a ritual all its own. The Honatta are the worst offenders, and I told them such to their faces. They are no better than the Hirogen!"

"It's not reasoning I agree with, but now I can see why some Vidiians might push back against a cure. If hunting is all they know and the solution is uncertain, then it isn't as nearly clear-cut from their perspective as it is from ours. That doesn't make it right, but any resolution would have to deal with this viewpoint."

As Janeway finished speaking, viewports went to starlines, then white-blue as _Redemption_ jumped back to hyperspace.

"Captain, you'll be home in a little more than a day" announced Proudmoore. "Assuming we don't run into any more interruptions."

"Speaking of interruptions, this shift in technology will shake up the entire Alpha Quadrant. We should have a discussion about this _before_ we get there."

"Now, who said I was interested in sharing?" he taunted. He was, of course, joking, but he figured humor might be a good thing, especially after the downer-fest that was the Vidiians.

Janeway glared.

"I kid, kid. Of course, there are some real safety issues we need to cover…"


	11. Everything is Awesome!

**Chapter 11 – Everything is Awesome!**

"You could fit our entire bridge in here!" exclaimed Tom Paris, upon stepping into the conference room in which the two ship's senior staffs would have a "technology symposium."

"Forget the bridge" sniffed B'Elanna Torres. "That table might just be the size of one of our nacelles."

"We do have confidence in our shields" said Admiral Proudmoore, when Seven of Nine again pointed out the weakness (in her opinion) of having large panoramic windows in a place where command staff might gather. "And as you saw, the Borg aren't really something we are concerned about right now."

Hyperspace swirled outside as each group took their places.

"It feels silly and repetitious to do this, but again, welcome! The New Republic is a friend and ally to anyone whose values align with our own, and the United Federation of Planets seems to qualify."

" _Seems_?" whispered Chakotay to Janeway out of Proudmoore's earshot.

"To be fair" replied the Captain, "the only representatives of that government he's met are us. And while we've been on our best behavior, we did indirectly accuse him of being an illusion created by a pitcher plant. He has no way of knowing we're not just some front for a despotic regime with a nice name!"

"Now, as I'm sure everyone knows, each of our civilizations possesses technological advancements that would benefit the other. Far be it for me to deny people the improvements in their lives that these abilities would bring, but I do think it wiser to discuss potential societal impacts _before_ we reach your home. After all, it's easier to talk about turbolasers when they're not in a position to completely glass your planet!"

Tom leaned over to Harry.

"And I thought my humor was bad!"

Seeing his joke fall flat, a chastened Proudmoore continued on with the meeting's agenda. His "side" would present on hyperspace, shield technology, power generation, and weapons. Pointedly, the Jedi Guardians were not a topic of discussion. B'Elanna Torres would represent Starfleet by going over replicators, transporters, weapons, and certain aspects of starship design.

Conclusions from the meeting were many, and summary datapads were handed out for all to peruse on personal time. Of greatest importance were the notions of using replicators to replenish depleted rations aboard _Redemption_ , the power advantage offered by hypermatter, and tachyon trails left by hyperdrive use that could, in the words of Seven of Nine, "impact other realms" in sufficiently large quantities.

"This hyperdrive technology, it's incredible" gushed Torres. "Our top speed is nowhere close—even quantum slipstream can't touch it! And this ship doesn't even have the fastest type of hyperdrive!"

"Race in the Antarian Trans-stellar Rally, home by dinner!" added Paris.

"You'd want to bring the Flyer though" said B'Elanna. She flipped through a list of ship types known to the New Republic on her datapad, including such entries as "Mon Calamari _Mediator_ -class battle cruiser" and "Imperial Star Destroyer Mk. II." She continued, "These cruisers—they're fast in a straight line and pack a big punch, but they maneuver like a Malon freighter!"

Tuvok, displaying typical Vulcan conservatism, suggested to others that despite excitement about hyperdrives, "The political consequences of this technology must be carefully considered. Recall that a primary reason certain races and factions do not fight each other arises out of practicality rather than aversion to conflict—supplying a war effort would not be possible with conventional warp drive."

"Oh come on Tuvok! Didn't you enjoy being chased by angry Kazon?"

"Ensign Kim. This is not a humorous matter. In fact…"

"Tuvok, either laugh or stand down, that's an order!" joked Chakotay. "You aren't even a little excited about this?"

In another part of the room, Admiral Proudmoore discussed replication technology with Seven of Nine and the Doctor.

"Our provisions are running thin. We have supplies for another six months but it was kind of assumed we'd find safe haven very quickly upon arrival. You say you can just plug in these replicators and start stamping out fresh steak?"

"Replicators are a highly complex technology possessing inherent limitations" replied Seven. "For instance, standard Starfleet replicators cannot reproduce living tissue despite relying on the same technology as transporters which regularly move living beings significant distances. It is likely due to transporters utilizing an existing lifeform whereas replicators must create a physical object from a template."

Proudmoore gave the former drone a funny look.

"I'm not looking to grow a clone army. All I need are meat and potatoes."

"Are the diets of humans from your galaxy that simple? You only require…"

"It's an expression, Seven" corrected the Doctor. "It tends to mean 'basic, nutritionally-adequate food supplies.'"

"Speaking of." The Admiral turned to one of the more curious pieces of technology from his new galaxy. "A solid hologram. That has to be some magic…"

"Way to ruin my dreams, Harry."

B'Elanna punched Tom's shoulder. "Well someone has to keep you grounded. That's what Starfleet's all about, isn't it Harry?"

"Hey!"

"It's true though" she continued. "There's absolutely no way we could power a hyperdrive—the energy requirements are beyond our capabilities by at least three orders of magnitude."

"Can you put that in a language non-engineers can understand?" Tom folded his arms, smirking.

B'Elanna glared at him, though she was grinning.

"Now you know what it sounds like to _me_ when you blabber on about carburetors! For having designed the Delta Flyer because you were bored, a little math scares you?"

"So we can't strap one of these to the Delta Flyer, then."

"No Tom, we can't. Let me put it this way: our warp core could power a hyperdrive sized to Voyager for about five seconds."

Tom's eyes bugged out.

"This hypermatter stuff defies all the science we know. Energy per unit just blows antimatter reactions away. Now, as to how we get our hands on it, they wouldn't share."

Now B'Elanna pouted.

"So, that would pretty much rule out the weapons they smashed the Borg with" added Harry, having been silent during the nerd-out session.

"Yep. Not enough energy! They're not actually hard to build—once you get the basics down. It's just supplying them with enough power that makes it impossible."

Admiral Proudmoore found it difficult to wrap his head around tactilely-present holograms. The potential for enhanced starship design, combat simulations, and even recreation seemed endless.

"To say your version of this technology is primitive would be to compare someone able to apply a bandage to my own program" explained the Doctor. "Which, incidentally, did not include a name. So stop asking!"

He didn't mean to sound angry, but nobody outside _Voyager_ 's crew seemed to know this, so he had to answer the same inquiry over and over.

"Most of the technical details would be better explained by either Mr. Paris or Ms. Torres—I'm a doctor, not a holoengineer!" His voice trailed off as he muttered "Though I did create a pair of holographic lungs once."

Tom found himself motioned over.

"Finally, something I can actually talk about!"

The lieutenant began a lengthy monologue, only interrupted when Harry Kim nudged him, suggesting "the original topic was holograms, not Captain Proton."

One sheepish look later, "Oh, right. Well, Captain Proton is a holographic program! We could show you."

"I'll have to arrange a demonstration" replied Proudmoore, simultaneously intrigued by the technology itself but slightly bored by Paris' enthusiasm for what sounded like a very childish story.

Seven of Nine found herself flummoxed while speaking to engineering staff from _Redemption_.

"Your shield technology is superior, yet much less complex. The Collective attempted to utilize similar methods in the past but failed to produce anything of value. Why?"

"It all comes down to energy supplies. These types of shields only work if there's enough power to back them up." Oviha Tupa tried to keep condescension out of her voice but found herself unable to do so. It was so simple—and yet, this supposedly-advanced cyborg human could not grasp simple shield mechanics? "These types of defenses also alleviate the need for the 'navigational deflectors' you speak of. The whole ship is protected by particle shields at all times."

Seven would later speak to the Doctor regarding her encounter with this Oviha Tupa.

"Ship's counselor was not included in my programming, however, you are simply experiencing an emotion—likely feelings of inferiority. You recall your rounds of Velocity against Captain Janeway?"

"My greater visual acuity and stamina failed to produce a victory. This was a point of confusion—the Captain referred to this as a 'game of wits' rather than being a simple test of strength."

The Doctor laughed. "I do not think shield technology has anything to do with wits, but your reaction is the same. It is entirely natural, and part of being human."

Seven vowed to understand this new technology. She asked for and received an extended version of data already offered.

 _Daily Log, Seven of Nine: My inability to comprehend this shield technology induces anxiety and confusion. However, I must learn to understand it. Should the Collective ever obtain it, we will require ways to improve upon it to defend against Borg attack. I will speak with the Captain about organizing a group to further study these designs._


	12. Welcome Back!

**Chapter 12 – Welcome Back!**

"Well, I guess this stack of PADDs will have to do."

Captain Janeway stood, staring at her desk. No less than four dozen PADDs cluttered it, covering every topic from the hypothetical integration of transporters aboard _Redemption_ to the very real implications of said ship's arrival in the Alpha Quadrant.

"You have always been honest with me, Chakotay. Tell me. Do you think that this is going to be as big a deal as we're projecting?" She gestured at the pile of PADDs. "Or is Admiral Proudmoore right, that we're over-reacting?"

"A lesson in not over-reacting from a galaxy that seems to be perpetually fighting. I see now why their technology is so much more advanced than ours—they spend so much time trying to kill each other they have to keep building new weapons!"

Chakotay realized he'd been nearly shouting.

"It would be an amusing holonovel plot if it weren't so depressing. It's as if the stars themselves are at war."

"Well, we're less than an hour away. Let's hope we don't bring their conflict with us."

In the vernacular of the 20th century, it could be said that the "phones were ringing off the hook" or, to go back further, "the wires lit up" as Starfleet Command scrambled.

"Whatever it is, sensors just went off the scale! There must be a malfunction!"

"Check again, and recalibrate!"

"I want every available ship to converge on those coordinates, now!"

Admiral Owen Paris could only hope it wasn't the Borg, as rumors spread of a transwarp network with terminuses deep inside the Alpha Quadrant. He had to assume the worst, however, so he ordered the entire available fleet to meet the new arrival.

"Sir!" The woman from sensors had to stop to breathe. "Whatever it is, it's massive. Even Borg ships don't reach this size—it is bigger than Starbase 74."

Tactical interjected.

"I'm not detecting any active weapons fire, sir. Actually I'm not detecting much of anything—the energy emissions from its reactor are interfering with virtually all of our instruments."

"Well, at least let me see what it looks like" ordered Paris. "Put it onscreen!"

A massive, triangular grey _thing_ appeared.

"It looks like an entire city."

Before the Admiral could vocalize any other opinions of the newly-arrived ship, a Starfleet hail interrupted.

"Sorry to surprise you. We should have called ahead."

"Captain, would you care to explain?" demanded Paris.

"We have someone we would like you to meet" replied Janeway.

Hours later, NRSS _Redemption_ pulled up alongside Earth Spacedock, though a large area had to be cleared for it since at 19 kilometers long, it exceeded the keel length of any vessel known to the United Federation of Planets.

Captain Kathryn Janeway departed _Voyager_ along with her senior staff officers.

"Had I known how many meetings I'd be pulled into, I would have stayed in the Delta Quadrant!" she'd said upon seeing her schedule for the first full day home.

"Yeah, maybe if we kept at it Q would give us another boost. Or someone could travel from the future with a secret shortcut!"

Harry chided his friend for "spending too much time in Captain Proton." Though Admiral Proudmoore hadn't been interested in it, once word got out of how realistic holodeck programs were, there was a veritable flood of requests to experience this new technology. As a result of _Redemption_ being more than double-staffed with a complement of 650,000 due to carrying more support staff than crew, invitations to the holodeck were handed out by lottery. After scheduling and accounting for time in the Delta Quadrant spent computing hyperroutes, a paltry 4,500 people visited _Voyager_ 's two holodecks for 15 minutes each in ten-person groups.

"Even with transporters, there are still lines" warned a crewman to inbound personnel from _Redemption_ who "won" the lottery.

Admiral Proudmoore stood with Kathryn Janeway before being presented before the Federation Council, with its President also in attendance.

"It seems some government annoyances transcend galaxies" he complained.

After being introduced, Janeway succinctly covered both _Voyager_ 's time in the Delta Quadrant and the chance meeting of the New Republic.

"In conclusion, not only has Admiral Proudmoore brought us home _years_ sooner than we would have otherwise, but his arrival also heralds a new era of intergalactic relations. I look forward to being part of it."

A quick bow, and the Captain stepped off the stage from polite applause. Proudmoore, on the other hand, was less well-received, due to his perceived arrogance.

His last line was "There are many things to learn, which we will be glad to share."

"Somebody's full of himself" said Janeway irritably to Chakotay after the meeting adjourned.

Plainclothes operatives whose actions and appearance were as unmemorable as possible reported to their Section 31 superiors: evidence existed that certain personnel suspected to be members of rival spy agencies (such as the Tal Shiar or Klingon Intelligence) were both present and obtaining information at the presentation of the new arrival. Though access logs showed nothing suspicious, it was simply assumed these individuals copied and transmitted all scans coming from Starfleet assets as _Redemption_ was escorted in.

This technical data whizzed around ("At Warp 10" they said) not just Starfleet and its unacknowledged Section 31 but also among members of the Federation Council. A motion for closed session easily passed.

"This ship is outrageous!" bellowed Andorian representative Oshral Th'irhaaloss.

Ambassador T'luk tried to tamp down the combination of excitement and emotion sweeping the room, as she was wont to do as a Vulcan.

"There is no logical reason to treat this ship as an imminent threat. While the technology possessed by this 'New Republic' is of concern, we have extensive experience in handling such situations."

Such statements drew negative reactions from many human representatives. Though humanity and Vulcan were allies and had been for centuries, it still smarted that Vulcans deliberately held back the development of human starships, essentially on the grounds of "we know better" (or so humans felt).

Jaovruss Khol of Taller Prime shook his fist.

"We need more information! How do we know this isn't a trick? The Dominion might well have sent this ship!"

T'luk tried to talk down Khol.

"There is no basis for this conclusion. For it to be logically sound, a series of increasingly-improbable assumptions must be made. For instance, that the Dominion possesses even greater technological advantages than we thought, that they deployed a ship prior to the war's end without anyone knowing, their naval architecture changed radically as this vessel bears no resemblance to any design we've seen from them, and the Dominion either takes on human puppets or has found a new Changeling. None of these premises are even remotely supported."

Debates between the logical Vulcan and generally hotheaded Tellarite were inevitable; other Councilors rolled their eyes or busied themselves elsewhere.

On Qo'noS, Chancellor Martok initially viewed this new arrival with guarded optimism. Forged in the fires of the Dominion War, relations between his government and the Federation reached a high ebb, but if this turn of events were mismanaged it could easily turn into a disaster. Already, reports of the Federation's "new weapon" stirred anger among members of the High Council.

A few of the Great Houses quietly advocated for "gutting" the Federation once the Dominion War ended, but Martok's sheer force of personality (and force of the more physical sort) kept them in line—nobody ever learned of these plans.

"If Starfleet's Section 31 gets a single word about this, I will personally disembowel you!" he'd roared. The threat of dishonor for bringing conflict to the Empire through deceit also acted as a significant demotivater against actually carrying out any subterfuge.

By comparison, Martok now faced open revolt. Members of Klingon Intelligence did not trust Starfleet to share all information about this new ship or its people.

Martok's blood boiled at such thoughts—the soldiers of the Federation had fought and died with the warriors of the Empire to drive back the Dominion. And now they were being thought of as a threat simply because the "New Republic" and its ship were mostly human? That _was_ odd—extragalactic humans—but he refused to assume the worst like some High Councilors.

The Romulan Senate and Praetor Hiren were not nearly as conflicted as their Klingon counterparts. The Tal Shiar made sure of that by providing enough intel to keep the politicians happy, but also selectively withholding anything that might cause a stir. Most importantly, Remans were kept ignorant of these developments (or so it was thought). The Tal Shiar was aware of the newcomer's massive technological advantages, but held back exactly _how_ large these disparities were. It was also not reported that despite having the ability to "exceed quantum slipstream velocities," these people lacked transporters, replicators, and cloaking devices.

"Of course" smirked Sela, as she was deployed on a Tal Shiar ship. "I can easily pass for human among these newcomers…"

Quite perceptive of the fact that she drew attention by human standards, Sela began sorting through various wardrobes of garments. Using Tal Shiar-supplied images of what New Republic humans looked like, Sela would adopt the alias "Nova Terra." Long blonde hair and some prosthetics would conceal her very Romulan ears.

"Look, but don't touch" she laughed to herself.

A/N: I invented all members of the Federation Council whole-cloth since Memory Alpha says canon sources on the subject of Federation governance are fuzzy, so no harm no foul in my opinion.


	13. Gagh, Plomeek Broth, and Viinerine

**Chapter 13 – Gagh, Plomeek Broth, and Viinerine**

Nanietta Bacco, newly-elected President of the United Federation of Planets, took a call on her private terminal.

"Yes, Chancellor?"

"President Bacco, the arrival of this starship _Redemption_ from beyond our galaxy is causing, shall we say, _issues of stability_ here on Qo'noS."

"You're not the only one who has told me something of this nature."

In fact, she'd received reports from Starfleet Intelligence operatives that most major powers in the Alpha Quadrant were experiencing anything from minor upheavel (Betazed) to riots (Remus) stemming directly from news of this "New Republic." Somehow, attempts to keep Remus in the dark failed miserably, suggesting internal strife within the Romulan Empire.

"Confessing a weakness is not something that comes easily to me" replied Martok gruffly. "However, if I have learned anything from working with humans, it is the value of humility." His boisterous tone faded. "Even if it is expressed in private."

She laughed. "So Worf wasn't the bad influence some Klingons thought he might be?"

"Anyone who speaks ill of Worf is a _petaQ_!"

Ultimately, a large-scale holo-conference was called among members of the Federation plus its two allies from the Dominion War.

"I have heard whispers this New Republic is in league with the Federation, plotting to use it as a vehicle to wrest Remus from our control!" bellowed Praetor Hiren of the Romulan Star Empire. His voice lowered. "Of course, making such accusations without proof is irresponsible…"

"Their weapons are of particular interest" said Chancellor Martok, well-aware this was not dissuading the stereotype of Klingons as crude warriors obsessed with the battlefield. "To take out the Borg in a few shots, glory we may only dream of!"

"I am curious to find out more about telepathic abilities mentioned in a single report, buried under talk of improved weapons and engines" added Lwonneda Arik, Betazed's member on the Council.

"I would not read so much into it" countered T'luk. "These newcomers have professed to be open to sharing all important, relevant information regarding their ships and culture. If we take them at their word, then this single line is likely not of any importance."

Though T'luk considered Jaovruss Khol's wild rant about Dominion conspiracies to be illogical, she did agree with his statement now.

"We need more information!" he said, emphasizing each word. "Until we have greater understanding of what we're dealing with, we may well be chasing sensor ghosts!"

Several hours of debate produced the following proposal: NRSS _Redemption_ would embark on a cultural exchange tour across the Federation, stopping at eight planets for two days each. Due to the speed of hyperdrive, the vessel would be able to move about quickly, but out of consideration for the political impact of this technology its exact travel times would be concealed in ways that would suggest it to be only somewhat faster than a conventional starship rather than possessing engines capable of leaving Borg behind.

"So much for avoiding stereotypes" sighed Bacco to her Klingon counterpart, who'd petitioned strongly to have _Redemption_ visit Qo'noS first to "restore order through intimidation."

"Unlike the Remans, the Great Houses are actually capable of carrying out significant acts of violence" he replied.

To "encourage comity" Proudmoore invited all factional leaders to travel aboard his ship for the duration of the tour. Due to the speed of warp drive, these individuals would simply join when _Redemption_ reached their world.

"I was expecting at least the Romulans to refuse" commented Bacco afterward. Yet even the reclusive Star Empire affirmed that its Praetor would take part in these "historic events." It seemed odd that the Praetor would be making a direct journey from Romulus all the way to Earth, but at high warp the time required was not significant and Proudmoore gladly put his plans on hold.

In (relatively) deep space, Sela, alias Nova Terra, rendezvoused with the _Valdore -_ class warbird _Imperator_ which stalled due to a "singularity malfunction" while carrying the Praetor to Earth orbit. She would travel as a guest aboard _Imperator_ , then sneak over to _Redemption_ and act as if she'd been there the whole time. A suitably vague story about being a "cross-cultural naval attaché" between the Federation and Romulan Empire would suffice for any ordinary crew she came across since New Republic personnel tended to lap up such pleasantries. Ultimately, her goal was to avoid having to deal with anyone who could see through this flimsy cover. If she had to explain herself to a person in a position to expose her, she would have already failed.

In the same conference room Proudmoore first learned of replicators and advanced holograms, assembled members of the Federation Council experienced their first jump to hyperspace. Captain Janeway had not been wrong in guessing a simple change to faster-than-light travel speeds might carry heavily political repercussions—a raucous debate broke out among the assembled politicians over how hyperdrive could change the galaxy.

"In a scarcity economy, the ability to move people and goods faster would confer a significant advantage" said one. "But in our post-scarcity society, this means very little."

"True" replied his counterpart, a woman representing a group of Federation colonies. "However, it has huge military implications. And you cannot say faster warp drives did not change our way of life at all—some of the old boomers resented having their Y-class freighters upgraded to warp 3 from 1.8."

"This is my fear!" burst out the Tellarite Khol. "With improved war-making abilities, who knows what aggressive powers might do?"

"His concern has merit" concurred T'luk, an unusual occurrence since the hotheaded Tellarite usually played foil to the coolly-logical Vulcan. "Were any entities intent on disrupting the existing power structure to gain access to hyperdrive technology, governance as we know it would find it difficult to respond."

Oshral Th'irhaaloss snorted.

"As I said previously, this ship is outrageous. None of you tended to warp cores or crawled around Jeffries tubes before you put on those robes, and it shows. If you'd read the PADDs and _excellent_ analysis from Voyager Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres, you wouldn't be worried. There's no way anybody from this galaxy will be building hyperdrives into their ships anytime soon!"

Th'irhaaloss' words caused quiet consternation—he wasn't wrong. On paper, a hyperdrive-equipped civilization could attack and be gone long before defenders with warp drives could respond. However, such a civilization would need far greater mastery of power generation.

"Which we don't have" he finished, having gone on a two-minute diatribe about politicians panicking over nothing before finally realizing the threat to be nonexistent. There were rumors, stories, of something called an "Omega molecule" that might supply the required energy but no confirmation of such substances could be found anywhere public.

 _Redemption_ reverted from lightspeed as close to Qo'noS' shattered moon as was safely possible. An honor guard of _Negh'Var_ warships warped in within minutes. The namesake vessel carried Martok himself to a rendezvous with Proudmoore.

"I am grateful our Federation allies have let us be the first to meet these strange new arrivals" he boasted upon entering Proudmoore's conference room.

Praetor Hiren wondered if Chancellor Martok would take umbrage to his presence, so he stepped into the open to get it over with.

Martok's face twisted, but he said nothing.

"I'm glad to see you can get along."

Now both aliens turned their eyes on the Admiral.

"petaQ!" muttered Martok. "He sounds as if we are children who must be taught to share."

After some monotonous political speech-making (which both Romulan and Klingon would later agree seemed very similar to their Federation ally), Proudmoore finally discussed the reason _Redemption_ arrived at Qo'noS.

"You will now witness the firepower of this dreadnaught."

At these words, Martok allowed himself amusement—he'd rounded up ships belonging to dishonored Houses including an older (but still operational) _Negh'Var_ he'd grabbed from the deceitful House of Korath. Its namesake had blabbed on about "chrono deflectors" and time travel, filching resources from other projects in pursuit of a "madman's dream."

"Even if it does work" growled Martok up on arriving to take possession of the preposterously-named vessel _BortaS DIb_ , "nobody would be allowed to use it. Your outlandish fantasies of attacking the Federation for refusing to play your games will send you to _Gre'thor_!"

As punishment, Korath found himself strapped into the command chair of his ship, unable to move.

"You will not dishonor the Empire through lies!" Martok snarled over the comm. "Your pathetic attempt to stage a war between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire for your own benefit was as pointless as your chrono deflector!"

Notably, nobody informed Proudmoore he would be indirectly conducting an execution.

"Of course, of course" said Proudmoore jovially as some of Martok's attachés booed his initial destruction of a few Praxis asteroids. "Smashing rocks is not nearly impressive enough. Bring forth the target!"

Two Birds of Prey dragged _BortaS DIb_ into view, before moving to standoff range.

"Lock tractor beam" ordered the New Republic Admiral. "And fire!"

Green blasts lashed _BortaS DIb_ , designated "Klingon Target #1" on sensors.

The first volley reduced shields to 26%.

All around him, consoles exploded. Korath bellowed in rage, mostly incoherent, but were one to be present it would have been noted that he threatened Martok with "drowning in his own blood."

"You'll notice how effective our turbolasers are against the target's shields" explained Proudmoore. "These very same weapons also make short work of Borg."

The Birds of Prey had a second purpose—transmitting a show of force to those on Qo'noS who foolishly fermented rebellion. Korath fell at the shallow end of this scale, a loud idiot with very little capability to carry out what he talked of. However, the House of Konjah had apparently taken lessons from the fallen House of Duras—and possessed significant support in key areas.

"If we'd fired full-power shots in the same quantities we used on a cube, it wouldn't make for much of a demonstration" he continued, "as the target would have been instantly vaporized. You do the math—that was one battery firing. We have over a thousand of them."

 _BortaS DIb_ now bathed in blue lightning as the Star Destroyer switched to its ion cannons.

"Weapons offline. Life support offline. Warp core—well, we'll get to that, impulse, offline. Torpedoes, offline. Launch bays, offline."

"But the shields were still up!" protested Martok.

"Indeed" replied Proudmoore. "That's the thing about ion cannons. You can either suck it up, or switch your shields around to block them at the expense of being vulnerable to turbolasers instead."

Red lances slammed into Klingon Target #1.

"Assault concussion missiles. High yield. Focused blast. Great for anti-capital-ship work."

An urgent message from one of the Birds of Prey warned of an imminent warp core breach.

"We will not survive at this distance! I'm warping out!" said the panicked commander.

"You will do no such thing" ordered Proudmoore, calm as an expert pilot at the helm of a favored craft. "Tractor beam!"

IKS _SuvwI'_ found itself unable to move.

"Release my ship, _petaQ!_ "

"No need to worry. Pull them inside our shield bubble."

 _Redemption_ began to move forward even as the rest of its escorts backed off.

"That _qoH!_ " snapped Martok. "What is he doing?"

Korath's death sentence carried itself out as his ship's still-operating warp core breached from the impact of _Redemption_ 's great mass and stout defenses. This time, Proudmoore added no narration to the obvious situation unfolding before everyone's eyes.

Within minutes, Martok found himself deluged with communications—some from teetering Houses now affirming their loyalty to the House of Martok, and others seeking to pin blame on rivals for the instability that had been fermenting recently. None of these messages, however, supported any insurrections, rebellions, or war-mongering of any kind. Even Konjah fell back in line.

"If you _insist_ upon experiencing culture through violence, I will go along" sniffed Jaina Raynor (Kyle Lutarn had been a bit over-enthusiastic about meeting the Klingons for this reason). "I just want you to know that myself and several others have experienced visions. Dreams. A large, bird-like, dark shape swooping down upon me in my sleep. I believe it means there is a plot against us."

The Admiral "took it under advisement" as usual. Some of the Jedi Guardians would be fighting with _bat'leth_ in closed demonstrations (Proudmoore did not feel it wise to spread knowledge of the Force just yet).

Next stop: Earth.


	14. Leeroy Jenkins

**Chapter 14 – Leeroy Jenkins**

After a brutal show of force over Qo'noS, _Redemption_ returned to the first planet visited in the Alpha Quadrant. However, this was abbreviated since it had already spent a significant amount of time there by comparison, and it quickly left for Vulcan. The whirlwind tour lasted a month, and concluded with Romulus.

"Romulus" huffed Admiral Proudmoore. "At long last, we can be done with this flag-waving! Prepare my shuttle so I can give one last speech." (Unlike everyone else, the Romulans demanded to speak to Proudmoore in person.)

Jaina Raynor interrupted.

"Sir, something's not right."

"You've been saying that since we started this parade" replied Proudmoore irritably. "Every planet! All eight of them! Nothing's happened! In fact, on Betazed…"

Jaina scoffed.

"What happens on Betazed can _stay there_ as far as I'm concerned. At any rate, _this time is different_. There _is_ a conspiracy against us—and it _will_ all come to a head here. My visions were clear on that!"

"At least we do not have to visit Remus too" snapped the Admiral. "Even though it is currently very close to Romulus in orbit."

The proximity of the two planets occurred at regular intervals, and this particular meeting of the worlds would have seen the spark of rebellion anyway. Green blasts laced the unprotected hull of _Redemption_ , though it didn't take long for tactical to raise ray shields and cut off any further attacks.

"What is this?"

Proudmoore sounded more irritated than frightened as he threw up his hands in confusion.

"Sir, we have no visual, but our computers are firing at any area that emitted a pulse."

"Even with half our weapons removed to make room for colonists, this is still a Star Dreadnaught" he replied. "Don't just respond to areas where you think a shot came from—blanket space with turbolasers!"

In response to Proudmoore's order, a massive spread of fire spat from _Redemption_ 's batteries. Combining additional volumes of turbolasers with tracking to hits, the target was revealed as a massive vessel—at least relative to the types of ships seen previously—at almost 900 meters long. Though it maneuvered extremely well for its size, avoiding fire from 2,000 weapon emplacements while being the size of a small Star Destroyer did not combine in its favor.

Jaina Raynor's eyes widened. She then catapulted off the bridge as if pursued by gundarks.

"What's her deal?"

Proudmoore appreciated being provisioned with Jedi Guardians, but sometimes their actions were…inscrutable.

"The opposing vessel has powered a weapon of some kind. Sensors estimates it could actually cause damage to our shields."

Views depicted huge wings split into many tips, glowing ominously green.

Proudmoore's eyes narrowed. If the enemy's weapon was what he thought, a fixed forward-facing superlaser emitter combining several tributary beams into a single stream, it wasn't being aimed right. The unknown opponent rotated slowly on its z-axis; its shot would miss _Redemption_ 's bridge and strike the fantail at best. As it began to spin even more quickly, tactical spoke up.

"The ship's moving, but I'm not seeing any thrusters firing either visually or on sensors."

Twelve wingtips and two larger units on the vessel's "shoulders" let loose, creating a colossal green beam wider than the primary hull. This beam, likely meant for _Redemption_ , instead struck Remus.

Moments later, a sweat-drenched Jaina reappeared with several of her Guardian colleagues.

"The conspiracy I spoke of earlier" she panted. "We just thwarted it."

Admiral Proudmoore gestured toward a nearby display.

"You realize you hit the planet instead?"

Several hours later, _Redemption_ remained in orbit around Romulus, though under heavy guard.

"Your captain shall defer to Commander Donatra aboard the warbird _Valdore_ in your absence" ordered Praetor Hiren sternly before the pair departed to a conference aboard USS _Enterprise-E_. "If you wish to remain in the diplomatic good graces of the Romulan Star Empire, you will cooperate!"

"Admiral."

He found himself greeted by a bald man whose voice somehow reassured him even as it threatened, possibly because the man wore a friendly smile.

"Jason Arcturus Proudmoore, I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. My ship has been brought here as a neutral ground to discuss a turn of events that may qualify as an act of war. The Federation believes in treating people fairly, so we want to hear your side of the story. We can only hope our friends in the Romulan Star Empire agree."

Several other Starfleet representatives could be seen behind Picard, seated at a large conference table, including Captain Kathryn Janeway.

"Admiral" she began, "I will be honest with you. This all looks very bad. That a government which claims to disdain militarism has become so adept at war-making technology is puzzling to me, I will admit. Although we've had our differences—especially with regard to your, shall we say, _tone_ when discussing developmental differences between our societies—I for one cannot believe that you would come this far—millions of light-years—to wipe out a civilization."

"We did no such thing" replied Proudmoore angrily. "All we did was defend ourselves from what looked like a superlaser charging up."

"You'll have to excuse my questions then" she replied. "What, exactly, is a superlaser?"

Proudmoore sighed before explaining the basic mechanics employed on the Empire's Death Star battlestations.

"And yet, we have seen repeated demonstrations of how much more powerful your military technology is than ours. If this is true, even if we did have such a weapon, it couldn't possibly damage your ship."

He'd gotten used to Janeway's trademark glares by now. He'd kept the whole "Jedi" and "Force" thing quiet and hoped Janeway hadn't said anything either—the Klingons had been sworn to secrecy on their sacred honor. Granted, this galaxy did have its share of telekinetics, but nothing on the level of a Jedi or Sith that he knew of.

"Even if you do want to punish somebody for this, it wasn't me" proclaimed Proudmoore. "This room is secure, is it not?"

"Computer, secure this room. Authorization Picard 4-7 Alpha Tango." He turned to his guest. "It is now."

"Captain Janeway." The Admiral took on a lecturing tone. "You recall our discussions of the Force. Did you share this information with anyone?"

She had, in fact, included a footnote about the Force in a report, but doubted it got any more than a cursory glance considering the report's other content (hyperdrives, turbolasers).

"I have had no discussions with anyone on the subject."

 _Technically correct, but could be called a lie depending on your point of view_.

"Your galaxy has its share of telepaths and telekinetics" professed the Admiral as though teaching a class. "You are unlikely to be aware of the powers some in our galaxy possess in this area. In sufficient numbers, these Force users—that's what we call the ability—can move very large objects. A single well-trained Jedi might lift a starfighter. Several working together, a freighter. A whole Jedi academy could fling an entire fleet of Star Destroyers. In much the same way, the Jedi Guardians aboard my ship reacted to this 'Scimitar' and turned its weapon aside."

"I assume you did not order this use of their power" questioned Janeway, her voice getting that edge he remembered from previous debates.

"Of course not!" protested Proudmoore. "All I saw was a possible superlaser being pointed at my ship. The Guardians themselves elected to use the Force."

"The reason you are here, Admiral Proudmoore, is because the weapon you deflected employed a rather nasty type of radiation called thalaron particles. In pointing it at Remus, your Guardians killed hundreds of millions of people."

Captain Picard was not smiling anymore.

"You have deprived my government of much-needed resources!" interjected Praetor Hiren.

"Which matters more?" Proudmoore relished the opportunity to possibly slip out from underneath this dragnet. "The lives" (he turned to the Federation half of the table) "or the resources?" He pivoted to the Romulans.

"As members of the Federation Alliance, what's important is that should an act of aggression take place against the Romulans, we are obligated to respond" replied a Federation Admiral whose name placard read "Owen Paris" sharply. "Even though the Alliance was intended to repel the Dominion, the similarity of this situation suggests its framework applies in this case as well. If the Praetor considers this a declaration of war, the Federation will follow."

"I don't want a war" replied Proudmoore flatly. "But if it's conflict you seek, it's one I hope you're prepared to lose. If we are unwelcome here, let us leave. If you attempt to stop us, well… You've seen what our weapons can do."

"Is that a threat?" demanded Praetor Hiren.

"There is a difference between a threat and a promise." The New Republic Admiral stood. He resisted the urge to lecture these people on the subject, or discuss the weapon demonstration over Qo'noS.

"Admiral, if you would please excuse us" said his similarly-ranked Federation counterpart. It wasn't a question.

Normally, being shooed out of the room screamed "backstab," but Proudmoore acquiesced on the grounds that, again, what could low-power "phasers" and slow warp droves possibly do to threaten an _Executor_ -class Star Dreadnaught?

Captain Picard spoke in the same timbre he'd used on their guest, but aimed his words at the Praetor instead. "Do you intend to declare this an act of war?"

"A sizeable minority in the Senate wishes to." Hiren sounded almost Vulcan in his pronouncement. "However, the notion of declaring war on behalf of our _servants_ leaves much to be desired. It would legitimize their claims of autonomy."

An awkward silence ensued, as the United Federation of Planets abhorred slavery but was in no position to order about its sovereign ally. Nor did anyone in either group wish to create a second conflict.

"This is a matter of internal security" continued Hiren. "The Remans could not have built this ship without assistance from inside the Empire. We must determine who is responsible for funneling so many resources into this project and hold them accountable. You do recall why the Federation Alliance exists?"

"Of course" said Admiral Paris. "To defeat the Dominion and maintain the security of the Bajoran wormhole."

"Precisely" replied the Praetor. "Which suggests to me a solution you would like. Call it a _compromise_." He emphasized the last word. "Send _Redemption_ to patrol the wormhole while we determine how this Scimitar was built and whom to punish. In exchange, the Federation Alliance will provision them with supplies."

 _Captain's Log, Stardate 54982.3: Fittingly, Redemption will be arriving at the same time as a freighter from Bajor carrying prisoners on work-release. The government has decreed that certain offenders who were given long sentences under provisional authorities previously shall have an opportunity to start fresh. It is not without precedent; Mr. Paris joined my crew under similar circumstances, and Jean-Luc regaled me with stories of Ensign Ro Laren's arrangement. I hope it works well for them._


	15. Do Not Want

**Chapter 15 – Do Not Want**

"You know, this just adds to my point."

Th'irhaaloss shoved a PADD across the table.

"This is a logical question" replied his colleague T'luk. "If that ship is in fact so powerful, what concern did the Admiral have from weapons he has repeatedly deemed inferior?"

Said PADD detailed damage to _Redemption_ 's shielding from the detonation of a capital-class warp core: at best, a rounding error.

"Okay, so my Jedi Guardians over-reacted" sighed Admiral Jason Proudmoore. "Still, would you rather see most of my ship irradiated?"

He tapped a control on his chair's armrest, bringing up grainy footage showing the first Death Star's destruction of Alderaan.

"This is the type of weapon I thought I was seeing. Yes, every offensive system I've encountered _thus far_ didn't measure up, but we all know the rule: as soon as you assume something's the same, it turns out different!"

"Though we know that no race in the Alpha Quadrant possesses technology like this, reports from Kathryn Janeway's time on the Delta Quadrant have established at least one species does have the ability to easily destroy a planet: Species 8472, for lack of a better name" said Admiral Owen Paris.

Janeway and her crew were being debriefed back at Starfleet Headquarters, having been dropped there as _Redemption_ swung by Earth. Their experiences in the Delta Quadrant were deemed too important to have them gallivanting around on an interstellar goodwill mission, much to their collective dismay. That meant Paris and his son would have to talk later despite both men wanting to try for a rapprochement.

"Nova Terra" could not have had worse luck talking to crew if she tried. Many personnel were eager to hear her stories (which she kept exhaustingly consistent) about the Romulans she'd "learned about" as a cultural exchange attaché. However, over half embarked aboard _Redemption_ were colonists and civilians, not military—everything from botanists to teachers or Star-Craft Certified Space Engineers. As a consequence, no privileged intel could be had, or, rather, nothing that would stand up to scrutiny. Sure, there were plenty of _stories_ , but if cantina tales were valid as prime intelligence sources, then Quark's bar would have a lot more government patrons.

She flitted about the ship, moving from section to section. It was easy enough to avoid seeing the same people twice on a ship 19,000 meters long. She just blended in—attractive enough to get noticed but not so much that holos of her would go up everywhere.

Other Tal Shiar operatives sorted through irradiated remains trying to find anything about this "Scimitar" and those responsible for its construction. The trail led back to a Senator named Tal'aura, who _had_ been covering her tracks but assuming that the overall plan would succeed (rendering cover unnecessary) she got sloppy. Combined with Commander Donatra selling out both Tal'aura and Suran (having maintained proper appearances unlike her co-conspirators), it became a matter of tracing leads from these individuals, which ultimately pointed to an exiled clone of Captain Picard who'd suffered greatly in the mines of Remus. The man's unquestioning loyalty throughout the Dominion War and dozen battlefield victories in the name of the Empire caused some to call for leniency. However, this was not to be.

Praetor Hiren was almost grateful for these events despite being left without 90% of the labor force Romulans were used to commanding. It let him tear out the conspiracy, root and branch. For her cooperation, Donatra received a suspended sentence of three years which would be eliminated should she serve one year without wavering in loyalty. One step in this process would be to oversee the recovery of valuable equipment from Remus. Another took the form of serving as a special envoy to the Federation once the Empire finished sorting out the incident. Praetor Hiren would _graciously_ and _magnanimously_ reveal this "internal matter," showing how _cooperative_ the Romulan Star Empire could be by taking out its own members who were plotting against the Federation. Never mind that the Shinzon scheme predated his Praetorship and in any case had been called off years ago (hence the clone's being sent to Remus).

Unlike the "star tour," this time no games were played pretending hyperdrive to be slower than it actually was. The Star Dreadnaught hopped straight from Romulus to Bajor, an inconsequential journey.

"Hurry up and wait" huffed Jason Proudmoore.

En route, the Federation Alliance opted to create an Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board consisting of high-ranking personnel drawn from both military and civilian backgrounds. The Romulans, in particular, were anxious to deem this the Extragalactic Asset _Control_ Board, but were reminded by T'luk any "control" would be an illusion at best.

"If this Proudmoore were to go rogue, we would be lying to ourselves if we thought we could stop him" she'd concluded.

Brought before this five-person Board, Proudmoore succinctly laid out what he saw.

"Nobody wants my ship around, but everyone wants to have their man on the bridge."

Admiral Gene Roddenberry represented Starfleet, Worf a compromise Klingon member (as his beyond-reproach standing left him invulnerable to questions of favoritism), Donatra for the Romulan Empire (as part of her "envoy" assignment), Lwaxana Troi as the resident telepath ("just in case"), and finally the esteemed Ambassador Spock on behalf of Vulcan.

"If that is what you want to call it, then we can't stop you" said Roddenberry hesitantly. "We just feel it best to put some distance between yourself and…certain elements."

"The distance is an illusion" thundered Worf. "The Chancellor knows this—if we need to recall this ship to put down a rebellion on Qo'noS it can be there in hours!"

"We are all aware of that" said Troi snippily. "At least here you will be earning the goodwill of all members of the Alliance!"

Proudmoore's lip curled; though he spoke to others in such a fashion he was no fan of being talked to like this. The more time he spent here, the less he wanted to remain.

"In case we were not perfectly clear" finished Ambassador Spock, "if at any time you and your crew wish to depart, you may do so freely without requiring permission from this body." The Vulcan's gaze lingered on Lwaxana Troi.

The Betazoid appeared ready to respond, but Donatra intervened before anyone could start arguing.

"Your patrol route is relatively short. Given that your ship is larger than the wormhole itself, I doubt anyone would object if you simply engaged station-keeping thrusters and held position close by rather than repeatedly following a path that would require your ship to spin on its axis so frequently."

"Anything comes out that doesn't have a Federation Alliance IFF, shoot it. Speaking of the wormhole, don't try to use it" added Admiral Roddenberry. "Our experience tells us that Deep Space 9 or anything larger than it would destabilize it."

Proudmoore wasn't going to ask why these people would try to stuff a space station through a wormhole.

"I'll try to keep that in mind."

At Starfleet Command, Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew were being debriefed on their stint in the Delta Quadrant. Thankfully for them, the process moved quickly due to the Pathfinder Project having already downloaded teraquads of data from _Voyager_ already prior to their return.

"If the most interesting piece of information we get out of these debriefs is that there is a division between two factions of a species we've never heard of and probably won't meet, then Pathfinder did its job admirably" noted a member of Starfleet's Exploratory Division.


	16. Between a Supernova and a Black Hole

**Chapter 16 – Between a Supernova and a Black Hole**

WE ARE THE BORG. LOWER YOUR SHIELDS AND SURRENDER YOUR SHIPS. YOUR TECHNOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS WILL BE ADDED TO OUR OWN. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

These were words nobody ever wanted to hear (except if you were Admiral Proudmoore—who just laughed).

The Dominion and its Changeling Founders knew of this theoretical threat, but viewed it as inconsequential. The Borg seemed content to stay in the Delta Quadrant, and in any case the Founders believed the Federation to be a far bigger problem, hence the Dominion War. Except now dozens of cube-shaped vessels menaced the edge of Dominion territory.

Initially, dealing with the intruders meant a few phased polaron beam blasts from a battleship or two. Dominion spies pilfered information during the war regarding the Federation's contacts with the Borg—and it wasn't a pretty picture…for Starfleet. The Dominion, of course, would suffer from no such problems.

This belief found itself tested when a Borg sphere previously considered easy prey for smaller attack ships successfully ignored barrages of fire from a battle cruiser.

"We have used all of our forward torpedoes, and yet the sphere remains!"

Engineering reported said sphere seemed to have suffered no permanent damage to its shields—they were recharging at unheard-of rates. The captain ordered this vital information transmitted back to Central Command.

"Rotate frequencies!"

The sphere began to experience structural failures, and to the surprise of all it transwarped away with nary a shot fired nor threat made.

"Something is different."

A patrolling battleship squadron encountered a cube over one of the Dominion's many remote "colonies"—one so far away it lacked anything more than a numerical designation indicating the type of resources produced there—boronite, a rare ore.

WE ARE THE BORG…

Jem'Hadar under orders from their field supervisors dismissively opened fire, not viewing this vessel as a worthy opponent until a single green beam sliced their flagship in half with its shields up.

"Return fire, all weapons!"

Expecting an impassable defense like the "anomaly sphere," captains were surprised to receive Borg fireworks instead—the cube broke apart after only a few shots before exploding violently.

"Victory is life!" roared the crews in unison.

An engineer expressed frustration after the glorious explosion. "I am having trouble initializing the warp field—there seems to be subspace anomaly preventing the field from being created!"

"What do you mean?" snarled his First. "You're doing it wrong!"

No matter how many times the consoles were cursed at, the Founders' names were invoked, and threats of ketracel-white withholding were made, the warp core simply could not create the required bubble for faster-than-light travel. Whatever anomaly blocked warp functionality seemed to extend for several light years in every direction to boot, as reinforcements were forced back to normal space quite some distance away.

Either the enemy hit with the power of a supernova, or ignored the rage of the Jem'Hadar as if they were newborn humans.

The Founders cursed their abysmal luck—2,800 ships sent as reinforcements to the Alpha Quadrant that essentially disappeared could be of use now. That sentiment faded over the next few months, though as world after world fell to assimilation. When a mere Borg probe required half a squadron of battleships to be put down those missing ships seemed less impactful. The numbers of drones pouring onto formerly-Dominion worlds were as endless as sand on the beach and as unstoppable as the tides.

Though Odo's return to the Great Link theoretically brought peace between the Founders and the "solids" of the Alpha Quadrant, this wasn't without controversy. Many within viewed Odo as contaminated, corrupted—a sellout despite his returning with a cure for their ills. At most, apartness enforced by vast distances was viewed as preferable, especially since the virus had been a weapon of war. Some still believed the "cure" to be yet more manipulation by untrustworthy solids.

The Jem'Hadar cared little for politics, their only purpose being war. The Vorta, on the other hand, being the ones who administered and oversaw the wars in question, began to realize that the current situation was not sustainable.

Kilana, moved from direct supervision of Jem'Hadar to an administrative function as punishment for her failure to rescue a Founder, computed that at current attrition rates the Dominion would cease to exist inside six months.

"It might even be sooner than that" she finished in her report.

 _They would still be alive if we'd trusted each other!_

It could have been yesterday, not over six years ago. For an infinitesimal moment, there had been a small peace in the middle of a raging war. Such détentes could not be built on—one captain and one supervisor did not set policy for their governments. Instead, two more years of dying ensued.

"Would you rather die alone, secure in the knowledge that nobody could ever lie to you? Or trust, and possibly live?"

Odo posed this question to his fellow Changelings upon receipt of Kilana's information. The usual ruckus ensued; a Vorta insufficiently devoted to her gods, one kind gesture did not a peace make, and the like.

One particularly nasty member of the Great Link suggested that "if these two believe so strongly in the solids, then send them over!"

Scouting reports indicated the ability to journey to the Alpha Quadrant would be difficult at best. Borg vessels and structures swarmed the Gamma Quadrant terminus of the "Bajoran wormhole," meaning sending anything through would require a massive fleet—diverting resources from other fronts. A gargantuan ring grew around the wormhole, though to what end nobody could figure out. Its diameter far exceeded the widest the anomaly had ever been seen to open, leading more than one Vorta to guess its purpose revolved around making the wormhole bigger.

By this point, over 80% of Dominion territory had been lost, some to active Borg occupation while other sections were simply impassable by warp and thus useless. The Borg were not observed traveling in and out of these areas either, in a sort of "who blinks first?" situation. Without a doubt, the Dominion would buckle, eliminating a threat to the Collective even if the conquerors would see only minimal material gains in territory or resources.

As the Borg closed in, conversation in the Great Link became more fevered. Borg could not assimilate Changelings, so they resorted to wanton destruction instead. Were they to arrive in force the entire species would be at risk.

"We will go!" proclaimed Odo with Kilana at his side. "It is a perversion of justice to let the prejudices of the few endanger the lives of the many."

The pair was furnished a command battleship—the largest vessel in regular Dominion service. A vastly up-scaled version of the normal craft, it stretched over four kilometers in length, carried huge weapon arrays, and could spew an entire division of Jem'Hadar from its cargo bays. However, instead of troops its hull received extra armor, redundant generators, and a prototype warp core based on superior engines seen in the Alpha Quadrant.

As the attendant fleet took off, dragged in the "mothership's" warp bubble, Odo turned to Kilana.

"It will be difficult to establish trust while arriving in what looks like another invasion force."

"And what would you have us do?" she responded. "We have no choice!"

"We can only hope that men and women like Sisko are still in charge" he sighed. "There are those who would see us all dead…"


	17. A Fist Through the Glass

**Chapter 17 – A Fist Through the Glass**

"Supervisor!" barked the First assigned to Kilana. "We have been pulled from warp prematurely! We are still one hundred million kilometers from the wormhole."

"Is it the anomaly?" asked Kilana.

"No Supervisor" replied her First. "It is something else. Incoming hail."

WE ARE THE…

"Oh, shut _up_!" sighed Kilana, exasperated as her First reacted by closing the channel. "Even if we are losing the war, have they not figured out the whole intimidation-talk has absolutely no effect on Jem'Hadar? In fact, it usually makes them fight harder!"

As one of three command battleships in the entire Dominion fleet, their vessel possessed offensive systems not deployed on ordinary ships of the line. These included multiphasic polaron beams, oscillating polaron torpedoes, and rapid-modulation polaron cannons. Two beams seared through a cube, even though energy readings showed that it likely possessed the "super shield" first observed on a sphere a little over a month ago.

"Well, having held back this ship and its weapons until now might get us through!"

His Vorta companion failed to share Odo's optimism.

"There are still dozens of ships between us and that wormhole, and…"

Both sets of jaws dropped open. The wormhole, previously a brilliant blue, had turned lime-green. It also stretched at least fifteen kilometers in diameter where before it was barely wide enough to permit a single normal Dominion battleship through at a time.

"Well, they can't blame us for this one!" she laughed. Now it was Odo's turn to not mirror the other's attitude.

"They will shoot at us anyway."

"And the Borg won't? All Vorta who've dealt with the Borg has come to the same conclusion: they get tougher every time. The first to encounter them found them to be weak to our technology, easily destroyed. But now with their shields and weapons having advanced to be several times more powerful than they were, they're not easy marks. Some who only ran into the Borg in the past month disbelieve the notion that their ships used to be destroyed by a handful of attack fighters but now require battleship squadrons."

Already, the effectiveness of multiphasic polaron beams markedly decreased by taking three or four hits to what was once a single-shot kill. Borg retribution took the craft's shields down significantly, however its momentum was not slowed yet.

"Eighty million kilometers" reported the First. "Shields at 84%."

"There are several cubes blocking our path. Blast them with torpedoes" she ordered.

The three ships exploded one after another as oscillating polaron torpedoes slipped through shields as if they did not exist, detonating within the cube's critical power generation systems and triggering cataclysmic overloads.

Escort battleships were not so fortunate, equipped with standard-issue weapons and shields. Of twenty-four, six were destroyed or drifting already.

"Press on!" shouted the First. "Victory is life!"

Another sphere disintegrated from an oscillating polaron torpedo.

"Just prior to detonation, a surge of neutrinos occurred within the ship" said Odo. "I don't know if that means anything, but these vessels all display the same extreme energy generation I have seen in your reports."

"Yet no anti-warp anomaly is present." Kilana admitted confusion at this. "All encounters with this type of enemy resulted in warp drives becoming unusable. Ours still is, but not for that same reason."

"Switch to rapid-modulation polaron cannons!" bellowed the First after realizing multiphasic polaron beams no longer had any effect on Borg ships. "Fifty million kilometers!"

Shockwaves from warp core breaches rocked the command battleship as more accompanying escorts were destroyed.

"More neutrino bursts" mused Odo as Borg vessels fell to polaron cannon barrages. "Every time a Borg ship goes critical, another surge!"

An inbound transmission from an accompanying battleship cut off Kilana's reply.

"This mission must not fail!"

Too late, Kilana's First realized a cube blocked their path. Instead of them striking it, however, three screening ships rammed it, causing a blast multiplied by a trio of warp cores exploding at once.

"Forward shields down to 32%!" roared the First. "More Borg closing!"

At the other end of the wormhole, Admiral Jason Proudmoore stood his dreary, boring watch over something his scientists had never seen on behalf of people who couldn't decide whether they wanted him around. He'd initially been excited upon meeting Kathryn Janeway and her intrepid band of explorers. However, something about this galaxy rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe it was the fact that the place just seemed so kriffing _dangerous_ , yet investment in military technology "isn't a Starfleet priority" (said Admiral Roddenberry).

"What good is exploring when you get blown to bits doing it?" he wondered aloud.

Never mind the inability to unify the galaxy despite apparently-existential threats like the Borg. His xenoanthropologists theorized long travel times caused by the slowness of warp drive simultaneously diminished any desires toward collective action and also prevented several disagreeable factions from ripping each other apart. After all, a key disadvantage faced by the Dominion invaders had been logistics after a brief closure of the wormhole he now guarded. Their less-advanced warp would have created century-long trips to supply forces in the Alpha Quadrant, until the wormhole's reopening at any rate.

About to retire for the evening, Proudmoore found his attention demanded by a sensor officer who simply told him to look out the bridge windows.

Instead of the usual blue, the Bajoran wormhole now let off a very green glow.

"We can't tell what's going on—even with our exploration sensor package it's not something our scientists have ever catalogued." Thus, she was reduced to stating the obvious for lack of anything better to say. "Whatever's happening, the wormhole is getting much bigger."

Most viewed these alterations as a mere scientific curiosity. To some Bajorans, however, it was a cause of great distress. Passerby thought it odd to find so many in work detail uniforms clustered around viewports that offered the best view of the "Celestial Temple."

"Our faith sustained us during the occupation, and in prison" explained Neela, a more outspoken member of the group. "Many of us discovered a deeper connection while locked up. It does give one time to think."

Her own crimes: conspiracy and attempted assassination resulting in a twenty-year sentence, lengthened from standard due to the nature of her target (who survived). This was fairly typical of those offered "Redemption Through Righteousness." Given the option to trade her prisoner garb for work detail, Neela jumped at the opportunity as did many others. Ordinarily, placing former terrorists on work release would have stirred controversy, but given the very real threat of Borg assimilation opposition remained muted.


	18. Punch-Shake

**Chapter 18 – Punch-Shake**

Sensors aboard Deep Space 9 lit up like an Earth Christmas tree. Wormhole emissions in general were normal, but wormhole emissions that couldn't be measured because the scale didn't go that high were not.

"It's also not supposed to be that color" noted Kira Nerys on the green aperture.

Her operations officer observed that "whatever's in there—it's massive. And it has a Dominion signature."

She sighed. The war ended four years ago, but now it appeared someone might be trying to restart it.

"Hail Starfleet, let them know the war is back on…"

She also dialed up the newcomer Jason Proudmoore, and wasn't above letting the old revolutionary rage show through.

"You want to earn goodwill in this galaxy?" she snapped, letting her anger about the possibility of a renewed Dominion War lash out at the wrong person. "Blast whatever comes through the wormhole with that big ship of yours!"

 _Finally, something to do_.

Unlike smaller vessels, a Jem'Hadar command battleship's bridge possessed the "typical" viewscreen/station/chairs laoyout. And on that viewscreen, a vessel so large it filled the entire width appeared. Grey, triangular, and menacing, it let loose a spray of green blasts.

"Divert all available power to forward shields!" cried Kilana, as if this needed to be said.

The First snorted. Though Jem'Hadar viewed the Founders as gods, their immediate representative Vorta were not always held to the same regard.

"Forward shields to 73%" he replied. "That leaves us without any protection on our aft quadrant!"

"If you haven't noticed" added Odo, eerily calm, "all the fire is coming from the front."

"Forward shields have failed" said the Jem'Hadar. "Impacts on forward sections one, four, seven, eight, and eleven. Hull breaches in those sections."

"We leave our burning home for an even worse fate." Unlike earlier statements, in this Kilana found herself and Odo in agreement.

"Try hailing Deep Space 9!" shouted Kilana, struggling to be heard over a storm of alarms.

The First gave up trying to report on damage to the front of their vessel—it was simply too much.

Kira Nerys answered, though hostility was immediately evident.

"What do you want, invaders?"

"Your help" replied Odo.

Upon seeing her lost love, Nerys immediately shifted her fury to a different target. It wasn't fair—nobody could have known, but now with Odo in danger she was not going to ask politely.

"Jason Proudmoore, _stand down!_ " she bellowed on another channel.

He let out a stream of words she presumed to be curses ("sithspit," "kriffing" and "karking" among them).

His face reddened in frustration and confusion. "You just told me, two minutes ago, to, and I quote, 'blast whatever comes through the wormhole with that big ship of yours!'"

In that time, several more volleys from _Redemption_ reduced the front of the new arrival to a slagged mess, while utterly annihilating all but three of its remaining escorts. The titanic vessel did, however, stop firing.

She conferenced in the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board.

"Explain yourselves, quickly" ordered Kira. "Starfleet is already on their way, and I am fairly sure the rest of the Alliance has also been notified."

"The Dominion you know is gone" began Odo sadly. "We have been destroyed by another power, one we did not think a threat. At the time, it was believed the solids—you, in the Alpha Quadrant, were a more fearsome enemy than the Borg."

"Borg activity has been restricted to the Delta Quadrant" said a confused Admiral Roddenberry. "The Voyager files suggested that the Collective, though expansionist, was thousands of light-years deep in that quadrant, far from the Gamma border."

He did remember Captain Janeway's files of a liberated Borg drone joining her crew, and said as much, adding "perhaps we should see what this Seven of Nine has to say."

"Subspace comms are down" reported communications. "Something from the wormhole is disrupting our uplink to Starfleet."

"I think we are overlooking a very important issue here" hissed Commander Donatra through grated teeth. "Why is a Dominion battleship here with escorts?"

"We had to fight the Borg" insisted Odo defensively. "They have taken over 80% of our space, including the area around this wormhole in the Gamma Quadrant."

"I've read your files" snipped Roddenberry dismissively of Kira Nerys. "I invoke Regulation 621—any individual emotionally connected with persons involved in a sensitive situation must recuse themselves..."

"I don't make a habit of memorizing Starfleet regulations" interrupted Worf, "but I will not see Odo's character impugned. I support hearing what he has to say!"

Lwaxana Troi also spoke up on the Changeling's behalf, relating his actions to protect her child from a Tavanian, concluding that she, too, voted to hear him out regardless of any accusations of emotional investment.

"Seeing as this vessel is not actively hostile and that there are logical reasons to support the notion that this is _not_ an attack force, I will be the third to insist we listen before continuing to fire weapons" concluded Ambassador Spock.

"Isn't anyone going to speak up for me?" asked Kilana, taking on a tone of mock offense. "Where is Captain Sisko?"

A change to red alert stance meant that story "would have to wait" said Nerys. "There's a vessel coming through the wormhole!"

It took several seconds for anyone to react as a Borg cube over six kilometers on a side appeared, though it seemed to be made of eight smaller cubes rather than being one continuous block.

Kira Nerys connected to Admiral Proudmoore, who said what she was thinking before she could.

"I'm guessing you want me to shoot at that instead."

She didn't say anything, instead settling on a glare.

Two more "cubes made of cubes" appeared in the meantime, before all three lashed anything in sight with their numerous green-hued weapons. Predictably, initial impact on _Redemption_ appeared to be minimal, though operations informed Proudmoore that unlike previous encounters, the Borg weapons were actually causing noticeable damage this time around.

"Their weapon output has increased exponentially" said an ensign, "as have their shields. We still outclass them by a good margin, but they are not the pushovers we initially fought."

Of concern were hordes of smaller Borg ships that swarmed the Star Dreadnaught. Unable to swat them all, Proudmoore ordered his own support ships to launch, including XJ3 fighters, Skipray blastboats, and assault corvettes.

"Head straight at 'em" boomed Kyle Lurtarn to the rest of his squadron. "Don't let these clankers scare you!"

Unable to significantly damage their gargantuan foe, the Borg began to instead concentrate on easier targets.

"Corvette _Solar Dream_ taking heavy fire, shields failing…"

"I've lost Gold 5, Gold 7, and Gold 10! Being pursued by prob…ARRGH!"

Operations aboard Deep Space 9 noticed an intriguing phenomenon: each destruction of a Borg vessel preceded a neutrino burst, surprisingly similar to those recorded when ships transited the nearby wormhole.

One of the fusion cubes, having taken some but not critical damage, moved toward _Redemption_ at high speed before exploding.

"We didn't hit it!" said Proudmoore to his compatriots. "It just blew up!"

A second cube tore itself to shreds.

The last cube vanished back into the now much-larger, very green Bajoran wormhole.


	19. System Shock

**Chapter 19 – System Shock**

"It's so strange, living a normal life…"

Denara Pel had been released from Starfleet debriefing rather quickly since the only information she had to offer did not require extended questions. Now she spent time exploring Earth with "Shmullus." The Doctor still hadn't decided whether he liked that name.

The story of the Vidiians inspired both sympathy and anger within Starfleet, but little else. They were a remote issue, a species the Federation never heard of until recently. More important was what was first thought to be a Dominion attack at Bajor, but actually turned out to be desperate refugees (in a battleship) fleeing from Borg. Borg that were able to actually damage some of _Redemption_ 's smaller support ships.

Unless you were Section 31. Then the Vidiians, with their medical technologies, were very, _very_ interesting. Several of its agents tailed Dr. Denara Pel anywhere she went.

"The Borg are just humanoids with technology added" she said. "It violates every known tenant of medical ethics, but a specially-engineered virus could leave them as piles of machinery…"

"Denara!"

The Doctor was flabbergasted. How could she suggest such things?

She shrugged. "I'm just saying. If they are as dangerous as you and others have said, it would be a defense of last resort."

Agent John Harrison forwarded this snippet of conversation to his superiors. A "lifer" who'd been brought in from Starfleet for his willingness to "be uncivilized in a civilized time and do what had to be done," he'd overseen development of the morphogenic virus under the supervision of Admiral William Ross—one of few Starfleet Admirals to even be aware Section 31 existed.

"Unlikely that Dr. Pel would cooperate in the matter" he wrote, "but Vidiian medical technology likely capable of producing anti-Borg agent."

Ross himself knew this information wouldn't stay within the Federation. Enmeshed in a complex web of espionage and counter-espionage, he retained a Klingon "intelligence sharing" officer who he knew without a doubt was funneling information on weapon designs, fleet movements, political developments, and more to the Klingon Empire because that protected his own sources within said empire. Better to tolerate the spies you knew rather than constantly looking for leakers, obviously hoping that this would not be used as a pretext to insert _further_ agents.

Admiral Jason Proudmoore completed his inventory of ships and personnel after the battle at Bajor. His eyes narrowed as he realized at least seven ships and their crews were missing—most importantly, Gold Leader (Kyle Lurtarn) could not be found anywhere.

"Those kriffing rodders" he snarled. "Even if they weren't a threat before, they will be now!"

Briefly, he debated keeping this information from the Federation Alliance but instead called a conference of the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board to let them in on this development. They would meet aboard Deep Space 9.

Federation security crews boarding Odo and Kilana's command battleship were treated to prominent symbols on every screen and panel that resulted in them being shooed away.

"It seems" began Admiral Roddenberry, "that there is some conspiracy to drag Starfleet Command together as many times as possible. First there is the summons from the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board all the way out to Deep Space 9, and now this!"

Captain Kathryn Janeway felt slight trepidation being surrounded by admirals, but she held her composure. As a Captain, she, too, was well-aware of the Omega Directive. In fact, she'd been the only person to implement this directive after its establishment, hence her being brought all the way from Earth for these meetings.

"You found these particles in the Delta Quadrant, yes?"

Janeway explained fully what transpired, including discovering a species that claimed to have been using Omega molecules as a stable power source until a single mistake resulted in an explosion.

"Thankfully, we have only found fragments on the hull of this Dominion command battleship, but it suggests that Omega molecules were and possibly are still present in some part of the Gamma Quadrant. You interviewed this Kilana, do you believe what she and other Vorta experienced has any relation?"

"I apologize in advance for this lengthy story, but we need all the details" Janeway replied.

Kilana and Odo found themselves treated more like prisoners than guests until Janeway arrived to speak with them individually. She focused on the Vorta.

"It was very strange" said Kilana. "Every time a Borg ship was destroyed, a massive energy surge occurred, sensors couldn't properly describe what was happening, and then our warp drive would fail to produce a stable field."

"And this happened, how many times?" asked Janeway.

"Many. Initially, our forces easily destroyed the Borg, but over time they adapted."

"They tend to do that" replied the Captain sardonically.

"Power levels from their vessels increased exponentially. As I said before, there were smaller types of Borg attack ship that were initially dealt with by our fighters, but over time they gained durability and offensive capabilities that required battleship-weight counters."

"How many ships were stranded by these detonations?"

"Hundreds" said Kilana. "A few lucky ones like ours were able to escape with their impulse drives, but most were given up for lost since the impacted areas generally spanned several light-years in later engagements."

"Do you have sensor records from the ships you recovered?"

"Captain, we left all that behind" sighed Kilana. "The most I can give you is what the ship we arrived in recorded, and it's not what you're looking for."

"The neutrino emissions! Instead of being trapped, every defeated Borg ship let off a burst of neutrinos upon its destruction. Any theories as to why?"

"You have more experience with the Borg than I."

Janeway stood to leave.

"Your insights have been very useful. I will advocate for a swift release from this confinement."

"Janeway to Seven of Nine!"

The former drone was still being debriefed at Starfleet Command back on Earth, but in her free time continued analyzing both the New Republic's shield technology and astrometric data from the Delta Quadrant in _Voyager_ 's lab.

"Go ahead, Captain."

"Are you alone?"

"Excuse me?" Seven couldn't understand why this was relevant.

"Can you use the astrometrics lab without anyone else knowing?"

"What necessitates secrecy? It is my understanding that Starfleet and the Federation prize sharing information, though not to the extent of forming a Collective."

"Indeed we do" replied Janeway, "but not in certain cases. You recall the incident of Stardate 51781.2?"

"Of course. I assisted in the execution of the Omega Directive." Slight pause. "Is this related to your desire for my use of the astrometrics lab?"

"Once you're there, secure your workstation with Borg encryption. Then let me know so I can send over information we've gleaned from our Gamma Quadrant visitors."

"Based on this sensor data" said Seven, "I believe the Collective has discovered a method to harness Omega. It appears they have enhanced their harmonic resonance chamber design using technologies brought by the outsiders to contain the molecules. However, if the vessel is destroyed the stabilization effect ends, which leads to detonation of the molecules."

"What about the neutrino bursts?"

"Recall that when the Collective first attempted to utilize Omega, 29 Borg vessels and 600,000 drones were lost. Furthermore, there were insufficient resources to synthesize more. However, evidence suggests that the Collective has obtained the necessary boronite from conquered Dominion territory. To preserve this resource, I theorize that the neutrino activity witnessed on the destruction of each Borg vessel is the result of a micro-wormhole. This returns the molecule to the Collective rather than permitting its destruction or allowing it to fall into the hands of those who would oppose the Borg."

"Or explode and damage subspace" breathed Janeway. "I will present your findings to Starfleet Command—I have been included in a meeting due to our execution of the Omega Directive."

Janeway finished her lengthy monologue on her findings from both Kilana and Seven before the Admiralty panel.

"You would make an outstanding addition to this body" complimented Admiral Roddenberry. "I shall see to it that you are recommended for promotion to Vice-Admiral at a minimum."

"Do I have your support to remove Kilana to a less-restrictive form of protective custody?"

"Of course, of course" said Admiral Berman. "Without her descriptions we would not have any corroboration of your theory."

"This is, to use the cliché, a paradigm changer. If the Borg have the power of Omega molecules, it is highly unlikely that any technology we have will be able to oppose them" concluded Admiral Piller.

"Incoming hail."

Roddenberry put it on a wall viewscreen.

"The Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board must meet with Starfleet Command's representatives here, _now_."

"Let me get this straight" began Janeway, now that Proudmoore and the EAMB were in the room. "You're telling me that the technology you brought, the technology that made the Borg a trivial threat, is now in their hands?"

"Based on what you just said, they were advancing anyway!" shot back Proudmoore. His tone turned dismissive once again. "Even if these projections are correct, this 'Omega molecule' doesn't generate nearly enough energy to run systems like the ones we use!"

"That may be so" countered Commander Donatra, "but the power generated by these molecules far eclipses Romulan singularity cores or Federation warp systems. It may not be a threat to _you_ , Admiral, but it is certainly a threat to us. Your ship cannot be everywhere at once."

She shifted her posture to be somewhat taunting, teasing.

"Unless, of course, you've been holding out on us…"

A/N: John Harrison is not Khan or anyone from JJ-Trek even though he fills a very similar function as a

character. I just liked the name.


	20. Take Up the Sword

**Chapter 20 – Take Up the Sword**

"This arguing serves no purpose" insisted T'luk of the rancor currently consuming the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board/Starfleet Command meeting. "The most logical course of action would be to determine defensive options now that we know the Borg will pose a much greater threat."

Proudmoore pulled Captain Janeway aside.

"Our crews were working together on how we might integrate technologies from each other into our vessels. We should continue this partnership, regardless of what this bickering collection of blowhards decides."

"Seven of Nine has been studying your shield technology. I haven't read her report yet, but she tells me she's made great progress."

"My engineers tell me your warp cores aren't as hopelessly primitive as I thought. Raise the pressure, and power generation increases exponentially."

Janeway finally found an avenue to ask a question that had been bugging her ever since _Redemption_ materialized in the Delta Quadrant. "I'm curious. For a society that claims to disdain war and avoid militarism, your ships carry quite a large amount of destructive power."

"I'm no anthropologist" he replied, "but a theory I have heard bandied about may explain it—our hyperdrive has made galactic conquest very simple. No major part of the galaxy is more than a week away from any other part. So if someone wants to stir up trouble, it's trivial to do so. Never mind that when we do wield destructive devices, they are far more damaging than yours."

"A galaxy born in blood" replied Janeway.

"You could say that. Even peaceful governments like the Old Republic and first legitimate democratic successor end up fighting brutal battles no matter how hard they try to avoid them."

"Legitimate democratic successor? What happened before?"

Proudmoore laughed. "You didn't read the part about the Empire?"

"I skimmed it…"

"The Empire" explained the New Republic Admiral, "built that monster" (he gestured to _Redemption_ outside Deep Space 9's windows). "Their rule was through fear. Quite unlike your Federation. Even the militarism of the Klingons doesn't compare—they have honor. As you saw with the Death Star, the Empire had no honor. Disobedience meant death. After the war, we captured many of their ships. Redemption used to carry the name Blood Vengeance. It stayed in storage for years, a secret of secrets, until the Yuuzhan Vong war headed south. A year and a half ago, we left our galaxy, headed toward yours, and here we are!"

"You know" said Janeway, taking in a breath, "I hate to say it but against the Borg? That doesn't sound like a half-bad idea."

Admiral Roddenberry shouted to be heard above everything. "Starfleet Command and the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board have come to the same conclusion. Whatever technology you have and are willing to share, we need!"

"Perhaps if you weren't so complacent, you wouldn't need my help" thundered Proudmoore. "While I admire your _idealism_ , you lack the spine to fight a truly galaxy-spanning conflict. I'll tell you what. Your Dominion War? Maybe a billion casualties total. When I left my galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong had killed 200 _trillion_ and counting. Just on our side, mind."

"Such casualty counts suggest two things. First, that your galaxy is more heavily populated than ours and second, perhaps, that strategies employed had little regard for life."

Ambassador Spock never used "four letter words" but his timbre on the last few words conveyed the feeling well enough.

"Ah, yes, the almighty Vulcan logic. You're missing a few assumptions, Mr. Spock. When your opponent cares not the damage they do, innocents die. When your military is stretched to its limit trying to protect over one hundred _quadrillion_ sapient beings, innocents die. When your 'alliance' is actually eight or more different groups with their own ideas on how to survive, innocents die. We have our flaws. We may be more military-minded than you—and for that I am grateful. We would have crushed these Borg out of existence years ago. I may not agree with most of what the Empire did, but sometimes a good Base Delta Zero is the only solution to a problem. Some threats can only be solved by utterly annihilating them."

Realizing nobody knew what a Base Delta Zero was, Proudmoore put it in terms that his allies would immediately recognize.

"Your General Order 24. Multiplied, and extended."

Kathryn Janeway decided to try to act like the adult in the room.

"Admirals! We may not agree with how his galaxy is run. We may think them barbaric, uncivilized, and bloodthirsty."

She turned to the one Admiral not included in her last sentence.

"And you" she seethed "may think is primitive, weak, naive, and divided."

"These things all may be true! But what matters now is that should the Borg return, we are woefully unprepared. Starfleet cannot fight them on equal terms. Admiral Proudmoore is running low on provisions, and there aren't any inhabited galaxies in this area of space that we know of. Where would any of us go if the Borg defeated us? We need to work together!"

Janeway didn't realize she'd ended up shouting.

Later, Donatra would say she'd never seen anyone, not even in the Romulan Senate, end a perceived conflict by yelling.

"You've always been candid with me" said Janeway as she and Proudmoore sat down at a table at her invitation. "You helped my crew. You brought us home! So why the anger with everyone else?"

"It's easier for me to respect someone who has taken her crew through hell and back" he replied. "You have survived situations that would have some of these pants-wetting armchair generals squeaking in the corner! Yet they are the ones who set policy!"

"The Federation doesn't make a habit of running its ships through 70,000 light-year obstacle courses. It was a rather unique series of events."

Proudmoore's provisions problem, while important, was much more easily dealt with than the general offensive weakness of Starfleet and allies. To that end, Janeway relayed only necessary information to her teams working with the outsider technology. In a first step toward fixing that, _Voyager_ and her crew were ordered to report to Deep Space 9 from Earth, where they (save Janeway) had been debriefing.

"And Seven, keep the Omega molecule discussion quiet!" she finished.

"Yes Captain."

First thing dropped on B'Elanna Torres upon arrival: an impossible assignment. She chuckled darkly. "You're telling me you want warp core pressures of 250 gigapascals? You realize that's impossible, right?"

"B'Elanna, I know it doesn't work with what we have now" said Captain Janeway. "What I need is for you to figure out a way to _make it work_. Seven of Nine has been working with New Republic shield technology—see if that offers a starting point."

Nobody bothered to count the hours that passed between having their assignment handed out and coming to a viable (on paper) conclusion.

"In theory, this should work." She set down her PADD. "If we can reinforce the structural integrity field and slowly ramp up the pressure, it should become self-sustaining. Higher pressure would lead to higher output but that would also give the field more power…"

In addition to assisting with B'Elanna's warp core pressure issue, shield work done by Seven of Nine's group had the potential to eliminate the need for a deflector dish entirely—"We just have navigational, or particle, shields on all the time" explained Oviha Tupa.

The "Mirialan" (as she called her green-skinned species) became considerably warmer to her Starfleet counterparts as their comprehension of technologies that to her seemed pedestrian increased.

Seven would never admit it to them, but she could now see things from her crewmates' perspective of feeling her to be insufferable and "full of herself."

"You're sure we can't get any more out of that shield?" demanded B'Elanna Torres over the comm.

"Repeatedly requesting the same result will not make it any more feasible" replied Seven. "This is the fourth time you have asked about this matter."

B'Elanna stormed off to a mess hall.

"Feeling the pressure?"

She grabbed Tom Paris by the shoulders and shook him. Violently.

"Not funny." She exhaled loudly in frustration. "Look, Janeway thinks that if we increase the warp core pressure, we can actually run one of these hyperdrives. She's not wrong, but there's one small problem—you can't just dial up the pressure by six orders of magnitude!"

"So you are feeling it."

"RRRRGH!"

"You know, we already dealt with extreme pressures once. Remember?"

Torres' mind snapped back to the design of the original Delta Flyer. She preferred not to dwell on these events, as she had _not_ been in a good place at the time—engaging in behavior that put her at a great risk of harm to the point where she nearly died. On a holodeck.

Suddenly, B'Elanna smiled, before grabbing Tom by the head and kissing him.

"Tom, you are a genius—unimatrix shielding! Like the Flyer. And Tuvok's probe!"

"I try to keep it quiet, but, sometimes it just" (his hands flew apart like some kind of an explosion) "leaks out."

Three days and forty-seven simulations later, even Oviha Tupa admitted the redesigned warp core was "well-done, if crude" as a result of combining unimatrix shielding with New Republic particle barriers.

Invited to a large hanger bay aboard _Redemption_ , Torres and her staff found themselves looking at…well, they weren't sure what. It reminded B'Elanna of Tom's holo-garages where he insisted on keeping his "Camaro" covered with a cloth despite there being no reason to do so ("Authenticity!" he exclaimed.)

"Welcome to your future" said Oviha Tupa grandly. The Mirialan whipped the sheet away to reveal a large cylinder.

"This is a class-6 hyperdrive unit. Even though all recent simulations were successful, I felt it best to leave a margin of safety so as to not overdraw your unimatrix warp core."

USS _Voyager_ would now receive both a hyperdrive and a significantly-altered warp core. In addition, the entire deflector array became redundant as New Republic particle shields would be capable of being run off the up-rated warp chamber. Said warp core gained quite a bit of girth due to heavy reinforcement required for its exponential running pressure increase. Therefore, it would be mounted lengthwise in the old deflector chamber.

"That's idiotic" fumed B'Elanna Torres upon being informed of the warp core's new location. "What happens if we need to eject the core? Oh, right—we shot the thing going critical out _in front of us_. This makes a lot of sense." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Captain Janeway had no more love of the idea than her Chief Engineer, and said as much upon reviewing plans to modify her ship.

"Not to sound rude" (and for once she actually made an effort to keep her tone free of condescension) "but your propulsion and power generation seem… _temperamental_ " observed Tupa. "Only our larger ships have core-ejection systems, and there hasn't been a recorded use of those systems in decades!"

She didn't add that usually this was because by the time a ship had gotten to the point where dumping its hypermatter core might be required, it was probably destroyed or on the verge of being so anyway. There was also the small matter of the size of a hypermatter detonation from a critical core—large enough that no practical ejection system could put the core far enough away from the ship for it to matter. So why bother?

As a compromise on a design that already seemed hackneyed by both Starfleet and New Republic standards, large bleed vents were installed around the old deflector area and on the sides of _Voyager_ 's hull. They were angled in such a way that absent other momentum, the ship would be pushed backward, increasing distance between the ship and an ejected core should the situation call for it.

"Vent, then dump. Not exactly confidence-inspiring, but we've rigged far worse. I'll take it." Torres withdrew her objections as refitting of _Voyager_ commenced.

In even stranger news, the voyages of USS _Enterprise-D_ suddenly became relevant to _Voyager_ despite the events in question predating _Voyager_ 's launch by three years. This led to a conversation between Tupa, Torres, and Lieutenant Commander Data regarding an unusual lifeform.

"Recovered fragments of the Crystalline Entity may be of some use in this project. However, I predict a high likelihood of objection on moral grounds."

Data's prediction turned out to be quite true. Over comm, Captain Picard, among others, believed usage of the fragments to be unacceptable, given that _Enterprise_ had essentially been tricked into killing a possibly-sapient being.

"If you want to venture into that nasty neighborhood unarmed, that's your choice" pouted Tupa. "I wouldn't head back to the Delta Quadrant without at least a few proton torpedoes…"

"What if there was a way to build a similar crystal structure? We wouldn't be using parts of the entity then" suggested Janeway. "And perhaps Admiral Proudmoore could furnish us with escorts for our trip."

B'Elanna laughed, interrupting what was a serious conversation.

"You're all forgetting we haven't even tested if this 'hyperdrive' works yet. And people are already arguing over what we're going to do in the Delta Quadrant?"


	21. Punch It

**Chapter 21 – Punch It**

Celebrations surrounding the installation of a hyperdrive-unimatrix warp core combination aboard USS _Voyager_ reached or exceeded the fever pitch of similar festivities (since erased) which occurred on the christening of a quantum slipstream drive.

"Well Harry, there won't be any phase variance problems this time" said Tom Paris jovially. "Remember how much time we spent on the holodeck trying to figure that out?"

"Yeah. And how many times it didn't work." Harry couldn't hide his disappointment.

"If it makes you feel any better, B'Elanna and her team spent _days_ trying to figure this stuff out. Giving Einstein the old 'up yours' isn't easy, Harry! Come on, let's get to the bridge!"

"Well, hopefully this works out better than the last time" said Captain Janeway from the Captain's chair. "Our extra-galactic friends don't seem to have any knowledge of temporal mechanics, so if this goes badly I doubt someone will be able to undo it."

"Not exactly inspiring confidence, are we?" replied Chakotay.

"Bridge to engineering."

"Yes ma'am?"

"Ramp up the unimatrix warp core."

At her engineering station, B'Elanna Torres kept her eyes glued to output readings. It helped the ship's continued existence depended on maintaining a very fine balance between higher warp core pressures and increased power to the core's internal structural integrity field.

"Warp core pressure at 25 kilopascals and rising…"

She turned to another station, surprised to see her Vulcan subordinate early for his shift. "Vorik? Field strength?"

With characteristic calm, the Vulcan noted that the field had risen to 103%. "Which is just enough to compensate for the increase in pressure" he added.

"If this works, we'll be back at Earth in less than an hour" said Torres to nobody in particular. "Not exactly a return from the Delta Quadrant, but that's still pretty fast!"

Back on the bridge, Harry Kim announced that the core performed exactly as simulated.

"The pressure is increasing exponentially, but so is the field strength. We're still a long way from full power and even further from the plateau, but it's looking good!"

Alarms went off in engineering.

"Warning: Warp core pressure exceeding critical levels. Warp core breach in sixty seconds."

B'Elanna sighed, more annoyed than concerned.

"Vorik! Turn that alarm off!"

In the excitement surrounding this history-making achievement, nobody bothered to recalibrate the ship's computer for the new paradigm established by unimatrix warp cores, so it naturally thought running the warp core at 37kPa represented an imminent danger despite unimatrix shielding holding the whole assembly well together.

"Warp core pressure increase is becoming exponential" said Harry from his station.

"Is the structural integrity field holding?" demanded Janeway.

"Yes Captain, the field is now outpacing the pressure increase by 15%."

Within less than fifteen minutes, warp core pressures registered 257 gigapascals, slightly above the planned amount but still held in check by the unimatrix-based structural integrity field.

The Captain addressed engineering again. "Are power levels stable?"

"Yes Captain, we have more than enough to run both the hyperdrive and its required temporal shielding."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Janeway.

"Bringing the hyperdrive online now…getting coordinates from the navicomputer."

A few Borg adaptations allowed easy adaptation of navigational software to run on _Voyager_ 's systems, which were now being put to use.

"Prepare to make the jump to hyperspace. Engage!"

For those used to warp travel, stars stretching into lines before their ship entered a blue-white tunnel definitely represented a change. It did visually resemble a much brighter-colored version of quantum slipstream, but that was where the similarities ended.

"Captain, our effective velocity is over five hundred thousand times light speed." Even Tom Paris had to show some level of being impressed by this.

"No phase variances or other things that will get us all killed?" called out Harry.

"Ensign Kim, there are no anomalies of any kind. We are simply traveling at velocities even the Borg Collective has not experienced."

Captain Janeway turned her head and swept the bridge wearing a suspicious expression.

"This technology just works. No phase variances, no math, no temporal paradoxes…"

"Not only does it just work" answered Tom Paris, "but we're going to arrive at Earth in less than fifty minutes at this rate."

In Engineering, B'Elanna needed to ask Ensign Vorik a question, but couldn't find him. "Computer, locate Ensign Vorik."

"Ensign Vorik is in the mess hall."

"He was just here!" she spluttered. "Computer, when did Ensign Vorik leave engineering for the mess hall?"

"Ensign Vorik has not yet reported to engineering on this stardate."

"Then who was I talking to?"

Naturally, the computer demanded further qualifications of which "who" B'Elanna meant, frustrating the half-Klingon and causing her to give up. She did, however, elect to alert the Captain of this strange occurrence.

"Captain, Engineering here. I'm pretty sure hallucinations was not on the list of possible issues with hyperdrives…"

"What do you mean?"

She answered very quickly. "When you ordered the warp core pressurized, I spoke to Ensign Vorik. Or, I thought I did. He was early, and he's never early! Now, I go to find him and the computer says he's in the mess hall."

"Well, even Vulcans get hungry!" replied the Captain. "You could just call his comm badge and ask him to come back."

"That's it, Captain! According to the computer, he was never in engineering today. At all. But I saw him right next to me!"

A few minutes later, Ensign Vorik reported to engineering for the start of his shift, precisely on time as always.

"There you are!" exclaimed Torres. "That is you, right?"

"Of course, Lieutenant. Who else would I be but myself?"

"Vorik, I must be going insane from this new hyperdrive or something. I thought I saw you, right there, at that station, but the computer says you were in the mess hall from 0947 until now."

"Well, yes. My shift today begins at 1000. Was it expected that I report to my station early today? If so, I apologize for my tardiness."

"No, no, you're here exactly when you should be" protested the Chief Engineer. "Which makes me wonder who was here that looked and sounded exactly like you?"

In a section of the ship hollowed-out by the removal of the normal navigational deflector, John Harrison switched off his holo-disguise.

"Recording log for future transmission: I believe this technology could be easily adapted to most Starfleet vessels. This would give the Federation an insurmountable tactical and strategic advantage in any war against other powers. Including all possible scans and other information gathered regarding its installation on Voyager as well as the hyperdrive itself."

"We are scheduled to work with Seven of Nine on crystalline structures today" said Vorik. "We should relocate to the required testing area."

"Got it" replied Torres, grabbing an engineer's kit. "Though, I'm pretty sure once we get to Earth we're going to be trotted around again just like when Voyager arrived home, so I won't be able to stay long."

True to form, USS _Voyager_ became a sensation all over again after its 54 minute, 37 second trip from Deep Space 9 to Earth Spacedock. Not everyone was pleased, however.

"The Vulcan consulate is raising all holy hell over this!" complained President Bacco to her cabinet. "They think this whole development should be locked away 'until its impact can be further analyzed.' I am starting to understand where Jonathan Archer's frustration came from!"

Neither Admiral Proudmoore nor his chief engineer cared what followers of Surak had to say about hyperdrives. Quite the contrary, in the celebration that followed Oviha Tupa personally made the offer of an upgrade for USS _Voyager_ to hyperdrive Class 4 due to "exemplary performance of both ship and crew."

"If we installed something that fast, we could get to the Delta Quadrant in two weeks!" marveled Tom Paris.


	22. The Butterfly

**Chapter 22 – The Butterfly**

Much to the chagrin of Vulcan (drawing a protest from Ambassador Spok, Council Member T'luk, and more) USS _Voyager_ received a class-4 hyperdrive stripped from one of _Redemption_ 's support ships, though, in a nod to their objections no further ships were supplied with either hyperdrive cores or unimatrix warp modules. The now-cruiser-weight ship also received combat-grade New Republic deflector modules (as opposed to navigational only), since if the core wasn't powering an active hyperdrive it could sustain weaker (but still sturdy relative to weapons in this galaxy) shields.

"We don't know what's going on in the Delta Quadrant. I don't want to state the obvious, but that is a bad thing" insisted Admiral Roddenberry during a meeting of the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board. "Especially since we know that the Borg have obtained technology from the New Republic."

Even though he'd just stated something fairly well-known and agreed upon regarding lack of intelligence from the Delta Quadrant, Roddenberry refrained from adding on how dangerous the Borg could become with fully-reverse-engineered New Republic technology. Footage of _Redemption_ 's weapons demonstration over Qo'noS was burned into minds across the Federation, and imaging the Borg wielding weapons such as turbolasers was so terrifying nobody wanted to imagine it.

"Not to sound like our doctor, but I guess we get to go give the Delta Quadrant a little checkup."

Janeway stood on _Voyager_ 's bridge with the rest of her usual command staff. Unlike their previous trip, this one would be fully planned, the ship would be prepared for many of the eventualities they'd run into, and Admiral Proudmoore even loaned her four assault corvettes with one Jedi Guardian each. These ships—heavily upgraded versions of the CR92a _Assassin_ -class, carried ten dual turbolasers, six quad laser cannons, and one advanced concussion missile launcher (for better anti-fighter protection). They would run their class-1 hyperdrives at a much lower speed to accommodate _Voyager_ this mission.

Seven of Nine experienced feelings of vindication, as "we have received a large set of hyperspace routes from Redemption using the data I supplied."

"I guess you didn't leave out any rest stops" chuckled Captain Janeway, noting the presence of "New Earth" (she and Chakotay were almost left behind there), the "pitcher plant," the Mobius Inversion, a Vidiian colony called Fina Prime, and scores more items of interest.

"This time" she declared, "no dealing with the Nekrit Expanse, mutara nebulas, or Kazon! Just plain, boring hyperspace."

Holodeck time became difficult to acquire during the journey, and many crew logs reported feelings of "stir-crazy."

 _Daily Personal Log, Tom Paris. Stardate 55950.3: I don't know how they do it. So monotonous! The New Republic doesn't even have pilots on starships. Their "navigational officers" just punch in hyperspace coordinates and the ship flies itself. Captain Janeway told me I could take personal time for two weeks—two whole weeks!—since all I do during my shift is sit watching the navicomputer they installed adjust our superluminal course. I'd spend the time with B'Elanna, but I've been stuck changing diapers since she is almost constantly in engineering. Actually, I've been doing most of the diaper changing anyway since she's been designing warp cores and something called a "turbo laser."_

"RRRRGH!"

Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres banged fists against a console in frustration. Just like her husband, she had nothing to _do_ other than "watch the status panel." Q-Junior might have mocked them as "bipeds staring at screens" or something similar. Unlike Tom, her screens were far more important to _Voyager_ 's continued well-being (and existence). One wrong move and the entire ship could vaporize. To that end, she and her staff kept exacting eyes on warp core pressure levels, the strength of the unimatrix field, and the status of the hyperdrive.

"Don't take your eyes off that relativistic shielding readout!"

"Yes ma'am."

She'd verified that this was, in fact, Vorik this time. Nobody had been able to corroborate her reports of a mysterious stranger in engineering that looked just like the Vulcan, and no further sightings occurred.

"What a _nep_ " she groaned, upon being told that hyperdrives technically required very little monitoring and most New Republic starships only had a single night watch keeping tabs on it while the rest of the crew slept. Even during the day, more resources were expended on turbolaser calibrations than fretting over the state of the superluminal engine.

"Maybe it's easy for them" she'd muttered, "but we're just getting used to this thing."

Harry Kim resumed his night-watch obsession. Since even the day shift became so routine, Janeway left him in charge on occasion while she caught up on long-overdue recreational reading.

"If you're going to interrupt me, you best bring coffee!" she'd said, before retreating to her quarters.

About two weeks later, Captain Janeway heaved a huge sigh combined with a roll of her eyes as _Voyager_ was yanked from hyperspace.

"We _almost_ made it" she complained. "Almost."

On the viewscreen, weapons fire crisscrossed between two familiar types of vessels. However, in all the time _Voyager_ spent in the Delta Quadrant, they'd never actually encountered these two factions in a fight against each other. But now, two Vidiian cruisers duked it out against four Hirogen hunting ships.

"The Vidiian ships appear to be responsible for pulling us out of hyperspace" reported Tuvok. "I somehow doubt it was their intention as we do not seem to be their target."

"Two incoming hails" added Harry, sounding as if he expected exactly this to happen.

Janeway put them both up, side-by-side. One face looked like it was barely holding together.

"I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway, of the…"

"We know who you are!" snarled the Hirogen. "Others have had… _dealings_ …with you. And _Voyager_." He practically spat the last word.

"I must apologize, Captain" came a Vidiian voice. "We did not intend to pull you into this conflict."

"Oh, I'm sure" snapped the Hirogen sarcastically. "You just happen to pull a fleet of ships out of warp as we were about to slit your throats!"

"Nobody is going to be killing anybody" insisted Janeway. "I'm sure there's a reasonable…" She motioned for Tuvok to ensure their New Republic escorts held their fire, though it wasn't needed since _Voyager_ wasn't in danger. Yet.

"Three more ships are dropping out of warp" reported Tuvok. "They appear to be Malon."

"What is this, the OK Corral?" asked Tom Paris.

"The Malons are firing on the Vidiians."

"This goes beyond the usual" snapped the commander of the attacked ship. "Our two species have never been comfortable with one another, but now the Hirogen actively pay them to hunt us!"

"Another vessel. Also Malon" interrupted Tuvok. "However, it is much larger than the others."

This newcomer resembled waste export vessels previously encountered by _Voyager_ , except it consisted of twenty storage tanks under a hull instead of twelve. It proceeded to vent a good amount of radioactive antimatter waste onto the nearest Hirogen hunting ship.

"And what do you say to that?" taunted the Hirogen. "You complain that we pay mercenaries to fight, yet you routinely escort these toxic barges to dump their theta contaminated waste in _our_ territory!"

"We have no desire to be involved in your conflict" protested Captain Janeway. "If whoever dragged us out of hyperspace would be so kind as to disable their weapon so we could continue moving, it would be greatly appreciated."

"Hyperspace?" snarled the Hirogen. "What is this 'hyperspace?'"

Chakotay could see the "oh, crap" look on his captain's face. Before Janeway could answer the angry hunter, his ship was hit with something that caused his comms to drop.

"This was your idea" said the Vidiian. "It was you who exhorted us to restrict our hunting to those who…were like ourselves."

She cut the comm. Technically, he wasn't wrong, but she hadn't been the one who ordered what looked like a full-scale interspecies war.

"Tom, get us away from this fight. Harry, can you find an end to this anti-warp field they put up?"

While Paris complied, Kim had no such luck. "It extends far enough that we'd be in for a really long impulse flight."

"Engineering to the bridge."

"Go ahead, B'Elanna."

"Captain, when I was talking to Oviha Tupa, she mentioned that back home, there are ways to break anti-hyperspace fields. I'm not saying I could get us out of here right this second, but it's not impossible."

"Start working on it" ordered Janeway.

Separately, she concluded it was time to pay a visit to sickbay.

It was almost amusing, watching the Doctor and Denara spend hours discussing various medical treatments during his off-shift time. They'd actually taken to running complicated medical simulations both in sickbay and on available holodecks. But now Janeway had to ruin the fun.

"I hope I'm not interrupting?"

"Captain, of course not." The Doctor stood—the pair had been reviewing data on Klingon phage resistance.

"You wouldn't believe it, but we just dropped out of hyperspace into the middle of a fight" she began. "A fight between the Hirogen…and the Vidiians."

"Captain, I'm sure you know that…"

She didn't let Pel finish her protest.

"Yes, you've been with us, in the Alpha Quadrant. What I need is any information on Vidiians like yourself, who want to wait for the cure to work. Outside there are Vidiians and Hirogen blasting each other. The Vidiian claims it was something I said, that the Vidiians should only take organs from people who had similar morality. I won't deny the words I used, but how could that possibly start an entire interspecies war?"

"Well, there aren't very many of us" Denara began. "As you saw, we are regarded as traitors, upstarts, and foolish youngsters who haven't learned their place. The Vidiian Sodality is powerful—it controls the apportionment of organs. That didn't used to be a problem as the goal was maximum efficiency, but now organ distribution has become a political tool. Out of fear, most avoid actions that would push them down on wait lists."

"Is there _anyone_ you can contact that might be willing to at least give us a status update?"

Pel stood.

"The colony I was headed home from when you found me drifting in space heard your story. While I do not know what their stance on the conflict is, I am sure they would receive you with open arms. My arrival there saved eight lives."

"Kim to Captain Janeway."

"Yes Ensign?"

She made a mental note to push through a promotion for the hardworking Kim upon return to Earth. He rated lieutenant junior grade at least. Speaking of which, she also had to file paperwork to convert her field commission of B'Elanna Torres to a proper lieutenant as well, since she had far surpassed the provisional junior rank given in the Delta Quadrant.

"The field holding us here has dispersed."

"It's nice not having the ship rocking about or consoles exploding—we were in a battle and I have no second-degree electrical arc burns to treat" remarked the Doctor.

"You can thank the New Republic's shields for that" replied Janeway. "What happened, Mr. Kim?"

"The Vidiian cruisers were destroyed, Captain. The Hirogen pursued the Vidiian-allied Malon but the two survivors fled. After that, they also departed along with their Malon friends."

Denara's face fell—she didn't like hearing about Vidiian deaths even if they were somewhat self-inflicted.

"We should head to that colony now."


	23. The Moth

**Chapter 23 — The Moth**

Kyle Lurtarn's eyes jerked open. The last memory he had involved his fighter exploding while his ejection system pushed him clear. Except, New Republic starships were neither this warm, nor this humid, or lit by so much _green_ on the inside. As expected, his limbs were restrained— _prisoner_ —he thought. _Big surprise._ _Now, what's with all this bleeding?_

"You've regained consciousness."

A voice. Female, subtly sensual. A figure stepped into view, washed in eerie colored light.

 _Does NOT have the body to match._

Some in his galaxy were attracted to cyborgs, and the few who could afford a proper Human Replica Droid literally had who/whatever they wanted. But this was not any of those. She had no hair, only tubes of various sorts for reasons Lurtarn could only guess at. Most of her body was covered in brownish-gray armor ("exoplating"), and her skin had an unnatural white hue to it.

 _Like bone_.

Kyle suddenly realized what he was looking at—a female Borg. He'd sliced up drones before, as had many of the Jedi Guardians. They'd just been cut down like so much machinery, with no concern shown for what they might have been before. This woman might have been attractive before, in fact, probably was. But now, more machine than human, and also likely to have something to do with his being restrained, he repressed dark urges to try to kill her.

"You want to destroy me." A simple statement of fact, delivered with zero emotion.

"Why am I here?" demanded Lurtarn.

"You're my guest" replied the Queen. "And a rather unruly one at that."

Lights came up, and Lurtarn realized most of the room he'd been restrained in had been damaged. Badly. By lightsaber strikes, unless the Borg possessed something that left similar marks.

"Your abilities are impressive" continued his captor, "and we're beginning to understand how we might obtain them for ourselves."

"You'll never have the Force!" he bellowed. "Even the Dark Side would not bend to the will of a machine!"

"Then why does it bend to yours?"

Only now did Lurtarn become aware that various pieces of Borg technology now adorned his arms, shoulders, and left leg.

"It was only after we improved upon your simplistic, weak biological shell that you decided to destroy our guest accommodations."

A creeping feeling of dread rose in Lurtarn's mind as footage of his actions played. At first, he saw himself still, unmoving as drones began to reconfigure his anatomy.

"You were much more cooperative unconscious. Then you…woke up and became angry."

Blue light flickered and danced about as Force Lightning ricocheted from drone to wall to panel and back again. Enraged bellowing made tinny by poor audio systems reached Lurtarn's ears. Crackling from very literal power accentuated his screams.

"How…" Lurtarn could only stare with his mouth open. No Jedi Guardian _ever_ lost control. Not like this.

"On the journey to perfection, there will be impurities."

The Guardian watched as some kind of cylinder stabbed into his arm before injecting its payload.

"It is a simple mix of adrenaline, endorphins, and a psychotropic aggression enhancer" explained the Queen. "You refused to demonstrate your abilities, so we encouraged you."

Cut to a different video, in which Lurtarn remained stone-faced, immobilized but unreactive despite physical strikes, audible taunts from the Queen, and other stimuli that would likely qualify as torture under virtually any conduct-of-war treaty signed by civilized species.

Now, Kyle Lurtarn became more machine than man, twisted beyond recognition to an even greater degree than most drones. More brutal than Locutus, more human than the android Data, but less powerful than his master. Stripping him of his flesh saw to that as the Queen began to change in the opposite direction as she craved more of this "Force." It would take over a month for her underlings to determine a way to grant limited use of the Force to both herself and others. These enhanced drones would later participate in attacks against the incessant lifeforms that resisted the Borg. Seeing Lurtarn's capabilities, the Queen desired to expand upon her own powers. The electric attack in particular was of great interest but she could not do it. At least not initially.

As mechanical limbs were replaced by biological ones, the Queen gained new power. She could now lift objects larger than a data node without touching them. Some of her drones failed to perform as expected when given the Force. Normally, further work would be done to ensure all reached toward perfection, but instead several of them ended up dead, their respiratory systems destroyed by an angry Force Choke.

"Perfection is power" she proclaimed, standing over their corpses. "Power brings perfection. Perfection brings victory!"


	24. House Divided

**Chapter 24 – House Divided**

"According to astrometric data and the navigation computer installed by the New Republic, Fina Prime is less than one hour from our position."

Seven of Nine had utterly taken ownership of the enhanced astrometric database.

"Good to hear. Send the coordinates up to the bridge."

"Yes Captain."

Tom Paris reported for regular duty, having left Miral in the care of the Doctor and Denara Pel due to B'Elanna being tied up in engineering.

"I actually get to do something today?" he asked upon arrival.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Paris, it's no more than the usual, but that's better than nothing!" replied Janeway.

"Well, I'm glad holographic oil vanishes when I switch off my program" said the pilot. "Been spending some time in the garage!"

Paris quickly entered the navicomputer coordinates sent up from astrometrics, and _Voyager_ jumped back to hyperspace.

Reverting to realspace near Fina Prime, _Voyager_ found itself confronted by three large Vidiian warships of an unrecognized configuration.

"You must provide a clearance code or submit to inspection!" ordered the lead vessel.

"I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. I'm here on the advice of Dr. Denara Pel…"

"Traitor!" roared her opposite. "Yet, considering she _did_ save my child's life, I will entertain your request. Why are you here?"

A few minutes later Janeway, Pel, the Doctor, and a mixed security detachment from assault corvette group _Red Knight_ combined with counterparts from _Voyager_ arrived at the colony's administration building. They were met by a colonial manager and his guards.

Pel tried not to smile as he seemed flabbergasted by her appearance. Though she was still recognizably "Vidiian" in the most negative sense of the word, Denara certainly looked healthier than any individual seen in the colony for decades.

"The cure works" she proclaimed. "I will admit to being a special case, but that is not why I am here. In fact, I am not the one you should be speaking to, though I would be interested in hearing more about the current situation."

Pel stepped back, allowing Captain Janeway to take control of the conversation.

"As I said, Dr. Pel suggested we pay your colony a visit since you wouldn't shoot us on sight."

The administrator blinked. "Pel told us you were trying to get home. Tens of thousands of light years away! Why would you come back?"

Janeway thought quickly. She could reveal her new technology, or try to talk around it. Considering the Vidiians who'd heard the word "hyperspace" were dead she might be able to get away with avoiding the subject, but she elected to mention it and move on.

"We have acquired a new type of faster-than-light propulsion from a group that arrived from beyond this galaxy. It enabled us to travel from our home to this colony in two weeks."

"Would you be interested in sharing this technology?" It was not a request.

"We are not here to take sides in this war" shot back the Captain. "We only want information."

"You came all this way for information?" replied the incredulous administrator. "About our war? I find that hard to believe!"

"Orderly Custosan, the situation in the Alpha Quadrant is quite different" insisted Janeway. "The Borg…"

"We have heard of these 'Borg'" shot back Custosan. "This is the one blessing granted to us by the phage—we are beneath their notice!"

"The Borg have invaded our territory" said Janeway. "We came to the Delta Quadrant to gather intelligence on their operations, but were dragged into a fight between Vidiians and Hirogen. A conflict which I must emphasize again we wish no part in!"

"Then why are you here?" Custosan betrayed impatience at his guests.

Janeway spread her hands, hoping that this wasn't considered some kind of insult the way her trademark hands-on-hips had been.

"I guess you could call it Starfleet curiosity. How did this war start? Is there an opening to end it?"

 _I'm likely to only get one side of the story. And the Hirogen are probably not going to talk to me. But it's still better than nothing._

"Traders have carried rumors of your legendary diplomacy" replied Custosan. "Perhaps you could join us at our conference with the Hirogen in three days. Some of us are tired of this conflict and wish to seek ways to end it. Ironic, considering the Sodality itself is riven by proponents of the Think Tank's cure and those who want to continue as we always have…"

"But if the cure works, you won't need organs anymore" said Janeway emphatically. "In the meantime, if it's information you want, the Doctor and Denara Pel may have some interesting developments for you."

Dr. Pel presented her research, some co-authored with the Doctor, on Klingon phage resistance.

"I wasn't the first person who discovered Klingon resistance to the phage" she began. "That credit goes to Dr. Sulan. However, further work suggests an intriguing avenue for fighting the phage. Klingon cells contain certain proteins that latch on to phage receptors, disabling the virus. This was not their original purpose—I'm no Klingon physiologist—but the effect is there and repeatable."

Graphics showing exactly what happened when these Klingon defense proteins were activated played out.

"This is the chief physician of the starship _Voyager_ " said Pel with a hint of grandeur upon introducing her friend and colleague. "He had an intriguing idea building on this discovery…"

"Normally, the immune response in Vidiians is very similar to humans—there are cells that seek out and destroy foreign matter. If these cells cannot suppress the infection, it spreads. The theory we came up with is to make the entire base of the blood an immune agent by inducing the body to produce this Klingon protein and releasing it into the bloodstream. There are several risks with this approach, the primary one being that it could cause blockages in small capillaries. However, given the spread of the phage the danger may be worth it since anticoagulants could also be supplied to help the body break up lumps of dead viruses."

"Significantly altering the blood base is challenging" continued Dr. Pel, "but I have several proposals on how it might be achieved…"

Captain Janeway enjoyed watching the two "nerd out" as it were, even if most of this went right over her head. Certainly, Starfleet demanded basic first aid competency in all officers, but blood-plasma composition, clotting factors, and bone marrow were generally not included.

Many Vidiians were impressed by Dr. Pel's work—the Vidiians, it turned out, were losing their fight with the Hirogen. How would a hematologist help turn the tide?

"I suppose" she said hesitantly. "If you wanted to circulate pain-suppressing agents as part of the blood itself, continuously, these techniques might allow it. However, there is a high likelihood of tolerance building up and the impact of the drug wearing off."

"Surely, you would be willing to share this research with us to further our fight with the Hirogen? Our soldiers are crippled twice: by the pain of the phage and the fires of combat."

Though Captain Janeway disdained the conflict, and indeed believed the Vidiians may have brought the whole situation upon themselves she would not condemn a species to extinction. Nor would she order her crew to withhold developments that seemed humanitarian in nature.

"You are very generous, Captain" complimented Orderly Custosan. "You are welcome here for as long as you choose to stay."

"I would be happy to try to mediate, if you and the Hirogen can agree to my presence" she replied. "At any rate, my crew could use a break. It's not Risa, but I know at least one engineer who would like to get her eyes off the warp core!"

Seven of Nine later noted in her daily log "It appears Deck 9, Subsection 12 will not see any auditory relief at late hours. My presumption that procreation and the raising of subunits would eliminate the desire to engage in intimate relations has been proven false in this case."

"No! We will not ask her for help in this matter!" insisted one of the researchers with whom Denara Pel had shared her data. "She and her high-minded Federation captain would never agree!"

"Nevertheless" commented another, "this is the last piece we need in our war against the Hirogen. They want to treat our bodies as trophies? We will teach them the folly of doing so! It is not just cures to our own disease that can be made native to our blood. We will destroy them from beyond the grave!"


	25. Aggressive Negotiations

**Chapter 25 – Aggressive Negotiations**

"How do we know these are not secretly allies of yours?" roared the chief Hirogen negotiator Karest over comm.

"We have trusted each other so far" parried Orderly Custosan.

"I trust _you_ " he thundered. "I do _not_ trust Voyager, the Federation, or… _Janeway_."

"I will once again demonstrate good faith" insisted Custosan. "We have scanned the ships accompanying Voyager. Though they are smaller, less than half the length, their power generation is significantly higher. Their shields are stronger and their weapons are unfamiliar. Unlike the Federation explorer, these ships were designed for war. I will send you all the information we have on them."

As a direct result of the Vidiian's openness, the Hirogen elected to send twice as many ships.

"If they stab us in the back, we will be ready!"

Hirogen vessels approaching for the conference two days later were predictably dragged out of warp by the Vidiian colony's defensive systems, though no exchange of weapons fire took place. Instead, the arrivals were confronted by four assault corvettes with weapons powered.

"Red Knight One to inbound ships, state your origin and intentions."

"You know why we're here!" bellowed Karest. "You may serve Janeway, but we're not fools!"

The response was quite peeved.

"We do not 'serve' Captain Janeway. Were she to do wrong in our eyes, we would defend ourselves, and others if necessary, from her actions. We will escort you in."

Per the agreement, the parties would meet aboard _Voyager_ , a neutral ground. Beyond, pairs of assault corvettes patrolled between _Voyager_ and the "honor guards" both sides insisted on having present. It was quite the military show, but if putting it on let the negotiations go ahead, Janeway wouldn't object.

"How much fuel are we burning so they can have a tea party?" asked the command of _Red Knight 3_ to _Red Knight 1_.

"Who cares?" came the reply. "I'm all for peace—even if it comes staring down our turbolasers. To peace!"

Karest deliberately hid how much his hunting parties knew about divisions within the Sodality. He was well aware that this was not an agreement that would hold most of said organization—but at the same time his own position was little different.

"So let me get this straight" said Janeway, acting as a mirror for all present. "Both sides want a cessation of hostilities-by-proxy. How hard can that be?"

"There are those among us who would not only continue the fight, but escalate it" hedged Custosan.

"Then we share the same troubles!" shouted Karest. "Some in my group of escorts were dragged here by force."

"You've both described your trust-building gestures, and each side has only reacted positively. So what's to stop this from continuing on a larger scale? Use this as leverage to bring more members representing groups of both species to the table."

Blasts from weapons outside the conference room window answered that question.

"I would blame you and take your hide as a trophy" snarled Karest as Vidiian warships fired on his own, "if not for the conversation we just had!"

"Janeway to Red Knight: Referee."

"We finally get to do something" groused the captain of _Red Knight 3_. "Scuff their shields, make them back off, but _do not destroy!_ "

It turned out "scuffing" the shields of ships whose defenses were orders of magnitude lower in energy absorption proved difficult as two attacking Hirogen ships buckled under only a few turbolaser blasts.

Karest slammed his Vidiian counterpart into a bulkhead.

"What do you say to this? Voyager's escorts have destroyed two of my ships!"

"Gentlemen" snapped Janeway. "Return to your seats." It was not a question.

"Our New Republic escorts have weapons and shields that are far more powerful than anything we here possess. They were specifically instructed not to intentionally destroy any ship unless it presented an existential threat. I must admit we did not expect the power disparity, and I regret that this has happened."

She tapped her commbadge.

"Red Knight, turn it down!"

"Already on it. Switching to quad lasers."

"Laser?" breathed Karest. "We know of no laser capable of this level of damage!"

"It's a misnomer" clarified Janeway. "Regardless, it won't happen again."

One heavily-damaged Vidiian ship proceeded to ram the Hirogen vessel opposite. The much larger target absorbed the low-speed impact easily. Were sound transmitted across space the bellowing of Hirogen hunting parties would have chilled blood in the negotiating room as they charged through destroyed bulkheads to seize new prey.

"Vidiians are interesting trophies" said one hunter. "It is always a surprise what you will find!"

The next twenty seconds passed in a blur of chaos.

"Tuvok to Janeway: we appear to have been caught in a Hirogen tractor beam. They are, oddly enough, attempting to throw us clear of the conflict."

"Shields!"

"Might I remind you, Captain, that the New Republic shield generators require the unimatrix warp core to be running at full power, which it is currently not. We are unprotected save for anti-impact particle barriers, and these are only at minimum strength."

"Damn" snapped Janeway. Said warp core took fifteen minutes to reach full output, a luxury of time not currently available.

Inertia from a Hirogen throw suddenly halted as _Voyager_ crashed into something. Alarms blared, consoles exploded, sparks flew.

"This is more like the usual" sighed Janeway.

"Doctor to bridge, site to site transport directly to sickbay, _now!_ "


	26. Swap

**Chapter 26 – Swap**

Denara Pel materialized on the same biobed she'd first awoken as a hologram. However, this time her actual body took up that space, and it was a sight to behold.

She and the Doctor had been working in one of the holodecks on yet another simulation, this time of how one might fight the tendency of dead viruses to accumulate as phages died due to Klingon proteins in the host's blood. The holoemitters on her side of the holodeck overloaded, exploding one after another and momentarily destabilizing the Doctor, though he came back online quickly enough to see what happened.

"Third-degree burns, electrical" muttered the Doctor as he grabbed derma regenerators. He began to treat for severe cardiac shock.

"Red Knight 1 to Voyager, we are standing by for medical casualties."

"I think we can treat our own casualties just fine!" replied Janeway, slightly insulted.

"If you change your mind, our bacta tanks are always available. Red Knight One out."

The space around _Voyager_ boiled with weapon fire from both sides. Visual indicated the Federation ship simply suffered awful luck as the Hirogen gesture to throw them out of combat placed them directly in the path of an arriving Malon mercenary vessel. Without anything more than navigational particle shields between the hull and any collisions, _Voyager_ sustained massive damage.

"Sickbay to the bridge!"

"What is it, Doctor?"

"Our friends certainly gave us new ways to kill each other, would it be too much to ask for them to also do the opposite?"

Janeway rolled her eyes at this development.

"Janeway to Red Knight One. We have one severe casualty, beaming directly to your medical bay. Lower your shields and prepare for transport!"

Meanwhile, _Red Knight 2_ hailed _Voyager._

"Shall we intervene?" asked its captain.

"No!" insisted Janeway. "Fire only if fired upon."

"Species!" snapped an intake nurse.

"Vidiian" replied the Doctor, mobile emitter visible on his shoulder.

"Ooookay. Don't know what that is. Humanoid enough. Throw her in the nearest bacta tank!"

"What is a bacta tank?" asked the Doctor to an entering attending physician, who laughed at the question.

"It makes me somewhat redundant. Bacta is a fluid that turbocharges healing. They say if there's a single spark left in you, bacta will keep you going. It's worked on blaster shots, lightsaber strikes, and all sorts of other maladies."

"So what is the point of doctors, then?"

"It doesn't fix _everything_ " he replied. "Even the miracle fluid has its limits."

Outside, the fight wound down and dissipated. The extra Hirogen ships ground their way to a victory, after which it was only "out of grudging respect for Custosan that we are not bombarding this planet!" They then departed, claiming two Vidiian ships as prizes. Notably, one was the first to open fire and the other rammed itself into a larger Hirogen cruiser, making its removal difficult.

Warning klaxons screeched within _Red Knight 1_ 's medical bay.

"The patient is experiencing a hyper-inflammatory response to the bacta" shouted one medic. "Organs are failing!"

The Doctor, programmed to remain calm even now (though he did later admit to some level of anxiety), suddenly realized what might have caused the unexpected turn for the worse.

"The cure. The cure!" he shouted. He handed a tablet with information pulled from _Voyager_ about the phage and its cure to a nearby physician.

"The cure is supposed to work slowly. Otherwise, the virus reacts and defeats it. But the bacta is causing everything to speed up, the phage is adapting, and the host body is…dying." An internal struggle ensued between expected response and adaptation that pushed him toward sadness, even anger.

"Get me a Jedi Guardian on the double!" barked the physician.

Jaina Raynor, grateful to be reassigned from boring duties aboard _Redemption_ , pelted into the room.

"Prognosis?" she demanded.

"Just do your thing" replied the attending doctor. Between bacta and Jedi healers, he felt quite useless.

It didn't take long for Jaina to also give bad news.

"What about your computers? We stored her memory engrams in the holobuffer once, why not do it again?"

"Our computers are not designed to handle a conscious mind" replied Jaina. "But, there is an alternative…"

A very stiff-looking woman wearing a green jumpsuit entered medical, followed closely by a frazzled technician.

"If this HRD crashes, it's not my fault" he fumed.

"All we needed was to walk the droid up here" replied Jaina. "Thank you for getting this working on such short notice."

Force Transference, while considered a power of the dark side, was not automatically so. The alignment of the power depended more on how it was used than anything else, and being that Jaina Raynor sought to move a consciousness into a blank AA2-X VerboBrain rather than a resisting mind there was no need to draw upon the darkness to bludgeon another being into submission.

After some meditation, Jaina took her hands off both body and droid.

"Switch her on."

"Switch? What?" blabbed a flabbergasted Doctor.

"I have placed Denara Pel's consciousness into this Human Replica Droid. I am not sure how long this will last, but for the moment she is no longer in immediate danger."

Jaina Raynor burst out laughing.

"What could possibly be funny?" asked the Doctor, offended.

"This Human Replica Droid was of a woman _also_ named Jaina, which as far as searches of galactic records go, is not the most common name. She was created to be a replacement for Jaina Solo, an accomplished Jedi and pilot, by Imperial Remnant conspirators. Consequently, this unit could probably kill a man by looking at him funny."

The tech took over.

"Running diagnostics…"

A hand stuck straight out, after which tools from a shelf opposite zoomed into the droid's hand.

"Well, the tractor beam works. Drains a lot of power though! I wouldn't use it much."

"You _will_ clap your hands."

First time anyone except those who knew the project were aware of these words sounding sexual.

"Subsonic influencer functioning at 87% effectiveness."

The unit then proceeded to perform a set of impossible gymnastics.

"Looks like the General Emulation and Duplication Initiative portions are working. Heh. GEDI."

"What now?" asked the Doctor.

"Never mind" insisted Jaina. "Bring Denara's consciousness out from under the maintenance routines, but lock out the GEDI functions."

"Am I dead?"

"Your neural patterns have been transferred again. Now, you are being housed in a…some kind of android" explained the Doctor.

"Denara's" face fell. "But I have to go back again, don't I?"

"Actually, you can't" said the attending physician. "This body is, for all intents and purposes, clinically dead."

"The cure was working!" protested the Doctor.

"Indeed it was, but I consider this good fortune. Though, by the looks of it, I am not quite Vidiian anymore. I'm not sure what to think of that—part of me feels…well…wrong."

"I have never heard of that species. There is a reason this is called a _Human_ Replica Droid—in fact, as far as quick medical scans are concerned, you are fully Human. Just very strong, extremely resistant to disease, and have an indeterminately-longer lifespan."

"Well" replied the Doctor. "This has certainly been an enlightening way to learn that your supposedly-more-advanced medical technology is not going to help cure the phage."


	27. Return

**Chapter 27 – Return**

 _Captain's Log, Stardate 55995.4: The bad news is that any chances of Vidiian-Hirogen cease-fires went out the airlock after extremists on both sides sabotaged the talks. The good news is that the hyperdrive still works. We took serious damage, ironically from a move that was meant to put us out of the combat zone. Consequently, we are returning to the Alpha Quadrant to rest and repair._

"The Red Knight engineers absolutely insisted" said B'Elanna over dinner with Tom. "They don't know anything about warp cores! They couldn't tell the EPS conduits from the magnetic constrictors!"

"Well, they do know something about hyperdrives. And, excuse the terrible joke, but you need to stop living at the speed of hyperspace."

She let off a huge sigh.

"You're right. But the whole mission is counting on us. This technology's new. You can't blame an engineer for getting all…obsessed. Can we, Mr. Camaro?"

Tom laughed. "We need to expand your horizons—maybe a Dodge Challenger… The 1970 R/T Hemi was a good year!"

"Just because you get to spend most of your shift messing around since you've been made redundant doesn't mean some of us don't still have to work" teased B'Elanna. "Why don't you join me in engineering on my next shift?"

"Well, as long as they don't mind Miral too…"

"It's a date!" she said happily.

"You want me to what?" blustered Admiral Jason Proudmoore. "There are innumerable members of your Federation Council, and government leaders the sector over who think my ship and technology represent, to quote Mr. Spock, 'destabilizing influences.' Yet, you're asking me to zip across the galaxy to force two warring species to the negotiating table?"

"It's just an idea" backtracked Janeway. "We have the Borg here, a war going on in the Delta Quadrant, and I don't even know what's happening in the Beta and Gamma Quadrants."

"Lest you forget" piped up Odo, "the Gamma Quadrant now belongs to the Borg." Despite suspicions, the Changeling and his Vorta companion had been brought into impromptu "war councils" such as this one.

"What do you think, Denara?"

"As disgusting as this sounds" (everyone had to be re-introduced to Denara Pel's new appearance), "analysis of several bodies we found floating in space suggest the Vidiian Sodality is producing biological weapons that target Hirogen. I am ashamed to admit my own research appears to have been used."

She looked down at the table.

"In what way?" questioned Janeway. "We only gave them data on bloodborne phage defenses and possible means to alleviate pain."

"We worked to seed the blood with an anti-viral protein found in Klingon cells" explained Pel. "You remember that. What I never intended was for this same technique to be used to weaponize blood."

Admiral Peter Lauritson concealed his interest in this development. Section 31 expended many resources trying to create biogenic weapons to use against the Borg, and this Vidiian's research seemed like it would fit right in. Similar to his unmet Vidiian counterparts, he would not make such requests openly.

Section 31 had competition for interest in this outpouring of new technology. The Tal Shiar, more specifically its operative Sela, had its eye on the astrometric database _Voyager_ transmitted to _Redemption_ for processing. A super-fast transit method without any means to use it would be pointless.

Her well-rehearsed stories about cultural curiosity easily got her a copy. What harm could a New Republic Human do with a database of a faraway galaxy?

Besides, there were bigger issues to tackle. Like Borg.

Aboard Deep Space 9, Kira Nerys confronted a panic as Borg ships again streamed through the massive Bajoran wormhole. These arrivals looked the same as the last invasion wave, but this was a deception. Borg cutting beams made vicious messes of assault corvettes given enough time—"It's like fighting ourselves!" complained _Red Knight 1_.

It didn't take long for someone to figure out exactly why these ships were able to manifest such power levels. After this force was driven off as well ("What's the point?" asked Admiral Roddenberry), Seven of Nine gave a detailed presentation outlining the "why's" of what they'd just seen.

"Traditional use of the Omega molecule to produce energy revolved around stabilizing it in a containment field. The Borg succeeded in doing so using a combination of the Collective's own technology and that of the New Republic outsiders. The threat of loss of molecules compelled the Collective to take their development further, producing micro-wormholes that would instantaneously recall the power source of any lost ship. This has the side effect of preventing damage to subspace."

Janeway chuckled. "The Borg have traditions, now?"

"Captain. I merely intended to indicate…"

"Please, continue."

"The vessels we just defeated used a different form of energy derived from the Omega molecule. Instead of utilizing them in groups or chains, these systems annihilated them. Such destruction produces orders of magnitude more energy, which is why the Borg were able to inflict significant damage on New Republic vessels. Weapon output from a Borg probe, considered the weakest of Borg combat craft in your classification system, increased by a factor of seven."

"I take it that somehow this doesn't pose the same risk to subspace?" demanded Commander Donatra. Omega molecules had become somewhat of an open secret, at least among those who were part of the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board.

"You are correct" replied Seven. "I cannot yet explain why, however, rest assured that destroying a Borg vessel carrying an Omega molecule annihilation reactor will not prevent warp travel."

"We should accelerate our integration program" announced Admiral Proudmoore. "I will begin placements aboard my ships immediately!"


	28. The Enemy of My Enemy

**Chapter 28 – The Enemy of My Enemy…**

In more peaceful times, cooperation between Section 31, Klingon Intelligence, and the Tal Shiar would have been dismissed as easily as claims of hangover-free consumption of Romulan ale by humans. With the threat of hyper-advanced Borg hanging over everyone's heads like a raised _bat'leth_ , the three organizations used their operating independence as an excuse to work together "for the duration of the threat."

Sure, they openly spied on one another—for example Admiral William Ross' toleration of a blindingly-obvious Klingon operative on his staff. Even though this agent remained "unexposed," there was still much theatre to be had outing an agent from another service, especially on Qo'noS where death sentences were commonplace.

"Our new recruits must learn to be more discreet" wrote Admiral Ross in his request for more agents.

As part of the new unspoken agreement ("Win the war, bicker in peace") their operatives coordinated insertion aboard New Republic vessels open for "military exchange." These individuals had cover identities anyway ranging from sensor officers to tacticians or warp core engineers. All of them easily fit into categories Jason Proudmoore claimed to be looking for, causing the assault corvette _Bluefin 4_ to receive a large contingent of deep-cover personnel.

As Stardate 56000.0 opened, _Bluefin_ took off on a "training" mission.

The group of intel operatives had to hope blatantly stealing a military vessel from a power far greater than any they'd ever seen before would go off without a hitch.

"As they always say" simpered Sela, "by the time anyone notices, it will be too late."

In the confusion that was yet another Borg incursion ("What are they waiting for?" griped Tom Paris. "Just assimilate us already!"), Sela's guess turned out to be true.

Using her pilfered copy of _Voyager_ 's astrometrics data with hyperroutes overlaid, she punched in the coordinates of a Vidiian base once visited by the ship in pursuit of Neelix's missing lungs. At full speed, a journey to this location would take less than two days.

"No wonder the place these people come from is always fighting itself!" marveled Provocateur Drarnus Konjah. His House might have gone along with Martok's proclamations, but some members still resisted. Being part of Klingon Intelligence meant he stood beyond his House's ability to retaliate, unless it wanted to risk a cloak-and-dagger fight with the shadowy Intelligence corps.

"With the ability to place ships almost anywhere in their somewhat larger galaxy" (120,000 lightyears compared to 100,000 lightyears for the Milky Way) "it would be easy to start a war on a moment's notice" said Sela. "Or take out a key target. Or blow up a planet, assuming they have such weapons. People I've talked to claim the previous despotic government built space stations called 'death stars,' the largest of which was over 900 kilometers in diameter. How preposterous!"

Arriving at what qualified as an unremarkable Class-M planet on any other day, Sela became annoyed when she realized the assault corvette could not land on planetary surfaces. Or, at least it wasn't designed to, said the crew they'd kept.

"I suppose we'll take the boarding shuttle" she conceded, before grimacing at the ugly, boxy craft that would ferry them to the planet's surface. "No elegance at all!"

"State your business or we will open fire!"

She'd read enough about Vidiians to know that would not be pleasant, though definitively calling these Vidiians would be an assumption since whatever they were manifested themselves in powered armor at least two meters high.

"Assuming this is the Vidiian colony we have on our star chart" she began, "we have information that you may find relevant. We would like to trade."

Once inside, Sela spoke for her "side," offering weapons, ships, technology, and improvements on the anti-Hirogen virus.

"How do we know you won't stab us in the back? You lied to your own governments!" The Vidiian was practically shouting. "Usually, when perfect solutions just fall out of a freighter onto your lap, there's some condition attached."

Sela debated employing certain _tactics_ on the Vidiian, but ultimately decided not to. Who knew if they even considered humans (she still wore her ear-concealing makeup) attractive?

"You see yourselves as heroes holding fast against the betrayal perpetuated by the likes of Dr. Pel. Fine" she pouted. "We can actually make you the heroes, not just to your species but to all of the galaxy! Roll back the Borg by modifying this weapon, and Pel will be consigned to history's dustbin. You will have statues of yourselves at Starfleet headquarters!"

Section 31 shipyards were, in fact, working on the very types of ship Sela promised to deliver for the fight against the Hirogen. Not that she would have had any legitimate claim on them, but USS _Prometheus_ did in fact exist. Already fast for a Federation ship, being capable of sustained travel at warp 9.99, the testbed instead received a hyperdrive rated as class-1 with a matching hypermatter reactor (first to be slated for a Starfleet vessel). To prevent Section 31 from becoming public, the freighter _Fortunate_ carrying this cargo to a rendezvous with USS _Defiant_ was "destroyed" in a freak accident. With no reason to suspect foul play by their allies, the New Republic failed to investigate the incident at all, and Section 31 of course kept the "main" part of Starfleet from getting too nosy.

Odo and Kilana sought to make themselves useful as well. They offered what data remained in their command battleship's computer banks, including templates to create Jem'Hadar Alphas.

"While this offer is…appreciated" (Starfleet Command had to at least pretend to be gracious) "we don't foresee a role for such additions at this time."

Sela's group oversaw rapid development of a virus dubbed "the Plague" specifically targeted toward the cybernetic-organic interface portions of Borg systems. Denara Pel's research combined with the existing anti-Hirogen phage worked to create a hyper-lethal bioweapon that would be 99.9% fatal in less than a week's worth of work. Celebrations felt premature as Borg vessels appeared over the planet, bombarding it with no warning.

"We can't be heroes if we're dead!" roared the lead researcher, a large, heavily grafted individual named Mahburge.

"Well no, then you're martyrs" replied Sela as she rushed both operatives and scientists toward the boarding shuttle. "We need to get out of here now!"

Safely aboard _Bluefin 4_ , she interrogated several Vidiians who were primarily responsible for the plague they now carried.

"The Borg usually ignore us" protested Mahburge.

"They're clearly paying you a lot of attention" huffed Sela, placing her hands on her hips in annoyance. That her ship's arrival might have had something to do with this attack escaped anyone's notice. "At least the enhanced subspace transmitter will allow us to communicate with your other scientists once we return to the Alpha Quadrant since they're apparently on the run from Hirogen and now, the Borg."

She had to hope keeping transmissions brief and narrow would avoid notice by the Hirogen, though the repairs and surprisingly upgrades done by said species since _Voyager_ initially fried the whole network with an antithoron burst allowed extreme throughput not previously possible—probably something involving the Think Tank contractors (just like the phage "cure"). Hence, "in and out before they notice a thing!"

The Vidiians being on the losing end at the moment actually helped keep them alive as their scattered smaller numbers forced Hirogen hunting parties into lengthy searches, though some Vidiians swore the Hirogen dragged the "hunt" out on purpose.

Sela followed no spiritual or religious order, but had she there would have been many thanks given for the blindness of the New Republic to _Bluefin 4_ 's return. Salvage teams found it drifting near the wormhole mouth without power and apparently without air. The most shocking development came from its crew—all dead by a pathogen nobody recognized. It bore a vague resemblance to the Vidiian phage but seemed to have been modified quite heavily, targeting nerve tissue alone. Since the only research known on the subject came from Denara Pel, it immediately placed her under suspicion. Fortunately for her, a veritable army of other individuals backed both her alibi and character.

"The sensors in that room log every entry and exit" said Janeway firmly. "Not only do we have a solid chain of verifiable witness accounts of Denara's location, but no items of her approximate mass ever entered the vault at any time other than when she was accompanied by at least one other person."

The answer came from an entirely different, unexpected source.

An armory freighter supplying fresh torpedoes to Federation Alliance vessels patrolling the Bajoran wormhole reported intruders before suddenly sounding an all-clear.

"This is not right. Something is off" insisted Worf. Much to the chagrin of his fellow Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board members, he accompanied an away team sent to investigate. "After all, this was a shipment of torpedoes for the Enterprise!"

Sela now cursed her luck. The power cell she'd "borrowed" from a New Republic engineer apparently possessed faulty circuitry in its capacity readout—it indicated fully charged upon receipt but in actuality held less than half that. Now her personal stealth device failed as security teams closed in.

"Lieutenant Worf to Deep Space 9. I believe I have found the source of the intrusion."

"Of course you have" said Sela with a hint of both drama and sensuality. "I'm just here to do what none of you have the courage to."

"If I was not under instructions to return you unharmed, I would break your jaw!" snapped Worf. "Drop that container!"

Hours later, Denara Pel (in her body that resembled "Jaina Solo") testified before a hastily-assembled Combined Alliance Court—created since the accusers were human, but the accused Romulan. Ear covers did not hide DNA.

"This pathogen is a direct result of my own research. When I offered my findings to my people back in the Delta Quadrant, I did not expect them to use it to create a weapon."

"And, for the record, describe to this court how your research, which you already explained, was misused."

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's cross-reputational fame placed him as one of the Judge Advocates within the Court, and he now presided over this fact-finding exercise (which at the rate things were going was bound to turn into a full-blown trial).

"Yes, Captain. My work was intended to seed the blood of Vidiians with Klingon proteins resistant to the phage. However, this resistance was inverted, used to make the phage itself more difficult for the host to eradicate. In addition, it was combined with a bioweapon developed by a certain Vidiian faction into what you see now."

Captain Kathryn Janeway took the stand next.

"While my original mission was to gather information about the Borg, my ship and crew were dragged into a fight between the Vidiians and the Hirogen."

"Do you have any indication of how the conflict originated, Captain?"

"Suffice it to say that both sides believe the other has wronged them so greatly it automatically justifies anything they choose to do in reprisal, including, it seems, the development of biological weapons. There are groups within each species that want peace, but they lack the means to bring the rest of their civilizations around to this viewpoint."

Picard leaned forward. "And you support Dr. Denara Pel, you would say now, under oath, that she had no intention whatsoever of creating a bioweapon?"

"Absolutely not. Her work has been abused and misused by warmongers. She is as innocent as you or me in this matter."

The Court moved to closed session as testimony from Sela came next. She'd refused to give her identity and was only found out after the Romulan Praetor himself outed her.

"As you can see, any agitations to the contrary regarding our cooperation in this Alliance are unfounded" he'd said with a hint of condescension. Of course, if anyone else knew that he merely wished to wash his hands of a weapon of mass destruction, others might have viewed Hiren differently.

"While you dally around with your toy ships, the Borg fester. They have not destroyed you yet, but they attacked the colony where I was working. And they are getting stronger every day!"

Captain Picard successfully resisted the urge to lecture this errant Romulan. Instead, he merely asked for a plea in light of "overwhelming and incontrovertible" evidence she sought to introduce biological agents and their associated catalysts into the payload of torpedoes destined for his ship.

"Guilty" she shouted. "Guilty of protecting society! Guilty of saving you from yourselves. Federation regulations! Federation rules! While you debate, our best hope to defeat the Borg faces annihilation at the hands of the Hirogen! While you argue, the Borg gather strength in the Delta and Gamma Quadrants. You speak of morality, but what good does that do us if we're all dead? Lock me away, but when your society burns to ashes, remember me."

Later, a mini-symposium of doctors came to a very disturbing conclusion about Sela's "Plague" (the Romulan word for such had literally been stamped on the side of canisters containing it).

"The infection we saw in the crew of _Bluefin 4_ at first seems unrelated" began Beverly Crusher. Denara Pel did not participate, so sickened was she seeing her work used in such a way. "However, the more I worked with Voyager's Doctor to study it, the more it looked like they were two versions of the same virus—just attacking in different ways."

"The virus was originally intended to target and inflame connection points between Borg circuitry and its organic host" continue the Doctor. "However, it could also be induced to attack other structures, and in this case it broke down the nervous system to feed its own growth. After the host's nerves were destroyed, the virus itself ceased to function. This virus could have blown back on us if it was used on a wide scale against the Borg, since preventing viruses from mutating is virtually impossible due to their nature."

This development led to an even harsher indictment against Sela, and distributing the virus' pattern to every ship in the fleet so as to avoid any further exposure.

In positive medical news, Admiral Proudmoore's medical staff worked diligently with the Doctor to begin growing a clone body for Denara Pel, so she would eventually be able to leave her current "host."

Though Denara was safe from neural degeneration as she would have faced in _Voyager_ 's holobuffer, she began to experience mild depression shortly after being moved to the Human Replica Droid. Easily treatable at first, but the trial began to push her. Upon finding out what, exactly, the locked out "GEDI" functions in her body were, she became distraught.

"I'm a healer, not a weapon!" she'd cried.

"You won't be trapped there forever. The clone will be ready in less than a year!"

"A year" she replied bitterly. "A year of hell" she sniffed. "Shmullus, I don't belong in this…this _thing!_ "

Her words would ring beyond the confines of sickbay into the ears of eager intelligence agents.

"The Tal Shiar is _everywhere_ " hissed one as he transmitted this recording.


	29. Cassandra Truth

**Chapter 29 – Cassandra Truth**

Seven of Nine dispassionately observed sparring between Jedi Guardians, taking verbal notes as proceedings unfolded. She added annotations where beneficial to those who lacked her eidetic memory and massive accumulated Borg knowledge.

"No weapons, only the Force!" said the announcer at the beginning of each match.

"Telekinesis. Some members of species 3259, Vulcans, possess this ability. Possible to achieve in species 1599, Betazoids, with certain training. Precognition. Observed in Species 4827, Yattho. Extreme agility and velocity…"

The ex-drone would go on to associate forty-seven separate species with one or more of the abilities she saw that day. Telekinesis had the most entrants, as she noted later, while an apparent ability to accelerate healing was only observed in Species 328—which was promptly rejected by the Collective as such rapid incubation of organic tissue interfered with Borg implants.

Of particular interest were "closed-loop plasma projectors" wielded _only_ by the Guardians. In a training match, one cocky fencer received many burns from the "lightsaber" dialed back to training mode while landing zero strikes on his opponent.

Her observations were interrupted, predictably, by a return of the Borg through the Bajoran wormhole.

"Mr. Paris. You desired to know why the Borg had not 'just assimilated us already.' I believe this attack answers your question."

"You really don't understand humor, do you?" he replied.

"Humor is irrelevant."

"Everything she doesn't want to talk about is irrelevant" he muttered while inputting combat maneuvers to take _Voyager_ out into the fight. New Republic computers hadn't automated that function—in fact the one attempt to do so, dubbed the Computerized Combat Predictor, ended up little better than random firing.

Priority deployment occurred after a single Borg probe latched onto USS _Yeager_ , cutting into the hull (normal), pouring drones in (normal), and attempting to assimilate the vessel (also normal).

What wasn't normal? Federation marines having their phaser rifles _pulled straight from their hands_ by drones from many meters away.

"They don't need to adapt!" yelled one in panic over the comm. "They just disarm us. What are you supposed to do after that, punch a drone in the face?"

"The abilities manifested by these drones are crude" stated Seven flatly upon viewing the footage. "Admiral Proudmoore's units possess far greater mastery of these capabilities."

"If you haven't noticed" replied Proudmoore, "there are more drones out there than I have Jedi Guardians. And as they will repeatedly attest, they are not an army."

"And yet they possess formidable psionic and telekinetic abilities that would enable them to outperform any standing armed force" replied Seven. "Why have they not used this as leverage to gain power?"

"Jedi seek knowledge, not power" replied Jaina Raynor. "Though some specialize in combat, I am a healer. Those who do focus on fighting use the Force for defense. Never for attack."

"Quantity has a quality all its own" added Admiral Roddenberry. "And if additional ships come after that one" ( _Redemption_ vaporized it with slightly more effort than the last time) "we're going to need a lot more than just the Jedi Guardians to keep the Borg trapped here instead of spreading all over the Alpha Quadrant."

Hence _Voyager_ (and many others) being flung into battle.

"It's even more important the Borg not be allowed to board" ordered Roddenberry to the DS9 fleet. "They already outperform us in ground combat, and now that advantage is further magnified."

Separately, he ordered _Redemption_ to "bottleneck that portal. Light them up!"

Proudmoore's tactical tried to coordinate with other defenders, "but they might as well be spitting at them—we're the only ones doing damage." Green light washed over _Redemption_ as Borg cubes, spheres, probes, and other geometric shapes focused their fire on the massive battleship.

"Forward shields have fallen to 93%."

 _Well, it took them long enough. Still, it required thirty ships, so I can take solace in that._

Proudmoore's tactical also noted the greater number of batteries that were required to focus on an enemy to destroy it—the number had been marching upward ever since the first "Omega annihilation" Borg arrived.

"Sir, significant numbers of enemies are concentrating underneath us."

"Move our escorts into range. Deploy the Star Destroyers."

Unlike their command ship, NRSS _Compass_ and NRSS _Orienteer_ retained full armaments. Both _Nebula_ -class Star Destroyers, they were just as strong as the _Imperial II_ s that docked within this hanger under the Empire's purview despite being 65% of the size.

The pair of ships put down what were dubbed "fusion cubes" by themselves, but only with difficulty. _Compass_ lost its forward shields and two batteries while _Orienteer_ depleted its missile stocks after using ion cannons to first disable its target.

"I don't like having to say I warned you, but, I did" said Captain Janeway over comm. "These ion cannons of yours no longer seem to have any impact on certain Borg vessels."

"You think I didn't notice?" replied Proudmoore, annoyed. "These 'tactical cubes' are obnoxiously durable…"

Seven of Nine elaborated on exactly why this was the case. "Scans indicate that this class-4 tactical vessel possesses redundant circuitry and chambers containing a fluid that attracts both the particles from your ion cannons as well as the electrical charges created. This minimizes damage done and drastically reduces the effectiveness of ion cannons. In addition, armor plating affixed to the vessel has been configured to dissipate strikes from these weapons. The Borg adapt to new threats. This is a known fact. Why did you not accept our warning?"

"What was I supposed to do, open a military research lab and start planning for threats that did not yet exist?" he replied irritably.

"This would have been a reasonable course of action. Your vessel is large, and likely possesses the space to do exactly as you suggested."

 _Voyager_ made strafing runs against Borg cubes with hastily-fitted proton torpedo launchers. Unlike ion cannons, the only way to "adapt" would be to produce a shield capable of blunting the weapon's impact, which unfortunately was exactly what happened thanks to massively increased power output from annihilation of Omega particles. This didn't make the cubes invulnerable (as they were against phaser fire) but it did demand ever-increasing amounts of ordinance to destroy a single ship.

Several _D'deridex_ -class warbirds arrived shortly after Borg began pouring out of the Bajoran wormhole. As these invaders closed on Deep Space 9, having used their sheer numbers and increasing resistance to slip past _Redemption_ 's curtains of fire, Romulan units opened fire. Green beams touched Borg cubes, bathing them in thalaron radiation.

"Shinzon and his supporters may have been maniacs, but their work will be our salvation" announced Commander Donatra to the rest of the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board.

The implication, that some portion of the Romulan government had been working on thalaron research, unsettled the Federation's representatives on that board. However, in face of annihilation, it was decided to "win now, argue later." Consequently, the Romulan Star Empire offered to loan out these weapons to be used under close supervision (in a similar fashion to the situation of USS _Defiant_ being equipped with a cloaking device).

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's reaction to this offer was typical of almost all Starfleet officers.

"You will not mount that weapon of mass destruction aboard my ship! Proton torpedoes, turbo lasers, ion cannons—these are all necessary tools of war. But I will not abide by using such a monstrous device, nor would either of my engineers voluntary install such a thing!"

"If you insist" sniffed Donatra. "We will be happy to stop the Borg."

Donatra's pronouncement turned out to be premature, though interestingly for the moment it created a weakness in Borg vessels. Adaptations against ion cannons made them more vulnerable to thalaron radiation and vice-versa, as the radiation tended to concentrate in the fluids used to nullify ion blasts. Removing adaptations made against the New Republic's disabling weapons obviously made ships susceptible once again. The latest battle of the Bajoran wormhole ended in a Borg withdrawal, though both _Compass_ and _Orienteer_ needed serious repairs, at least a third of _Redemption_ 's weapons had been damaged by wear, and even more smaller support craft were lost to self-destruct (denying the Borg any further material). Thalaron weapons depleted their reserves, which led to political fights on how to synthesize more.

"We were not planning on using everything to stop one wave" said one Romulan admiral.

Seven of Nine found herself in great demand, though she often repeated some variation of the same words she'd used over and over. The Borg always adapt, and every time they are defeated they return stronger.

Denara Pel also greeted many visitors. It struck some as strange that most of these people were simple "shake-and-snaps" that only wanted a photograph/hologram—neither Pel (often under hologram for authenticity) nor security was going to say no. It was just…odd. Some gladhanders were New Republic, but a large number came from the ranks of Alpha Quadrant species.

Jaina Raynor noted this strange behavior in the ship's log.


	30. Hypocritical Care

**Chapter 30 – Hypocritical Care**

A society that was once known for its art and now focused on medicine found itself at a loss against those for whom fighting was life. Certainly, a few Hirogen dropped dead from their over-enthusiastic osteotomies leading to bioweapon exposure (just as the Vidiians predicted). But it didn't take long for word to spread over the communication network that Vidiians were more dangerous dead than alive.

Most Hirogen just viewed this as a new challenge. The skill of the hunt now also required skill with a knife—prey lethal even after death represented a worthiness never before encountered. A few donned protective equipment when slicing up Vidiians, but this drew accusations of incompetence bordering on cowardice.

The species as a whole had increased in worthiness not just from its weaponized blood but also from its stoutness in combat. Vidiians were ordinary bipeds on their best days, ravaged by the phage they were weak. Until some among them began outfitting their fellows with power armor. Initially, these armored Vidiians were a patchwork as their suits followed no pattern. But within a short time span the homeless, hated species began displaying standardization, modularization, and upgrades that shocked their Hirogen hunters.

"I do hope that our allies in the Alpha Quadrant will have a new design for us" said one in charge of defense at a hastily established base created after their original main base fell to Borg.

"It is interesting" replied his fellow researcher, "that we receive constant datastreams about how the Borg are adapting and assimilating the Alpha Quadrant, yet we are required to adapt in the same way to escape our own deaths here."

Sela's agents only maintained contact with a small band of Vidiians. This represented a deliberate decision—by preserving those who shared their goals, it could be ensured that once the Vidiian species rebuilt it would do so along lines that were advantageous to the Tal Shiar. The annoyance that was Denara Pel would truly become an outlier.

"We may have a means to defeat both the phage and your enemies at the same time" said "Sela" tantalizingly. The operative playing her role to their cousins in the Delta Quadrant refused to elaborate on what this meant, though notes were taken on how this would be beneficial, since the real Sela would want to hear about this.

"These Human Replica Droids would neatly solve both issues. The problem, of course, remains in obtaining them as they are not ours to give away. Unlike ships, they are also tracked more tightly. And the 'GEDI' portions are locked down in ways that would require a nonsignificant investment to enable."

The Tal Shiar would lean on contacts at Section 31 to exploit the expectation of incompetence set up by the hyperdrive "loss" that granted USS _Prometheus_ its super-fast lightspeed engine. Starfleet was fully prepared to receive a tongue-lashing over this incident, but instead received nothing more than a wagged finger. Something this valuable, relatively speaking, whose loss was treated as nothing more than an inconvenience meant that it would be unlikely that a lost HRD would trigger some kind of massive lockdown.

Now, how to get them to part with one?

Starfleet Intelligence began to believe that the Vidiians brought back from the Delta Quadrant were hiding something. Of course they were—they were working on a bioweapon in violation of practically every Starfleet regulation in existence. Not that the Tal Shiar cared for such things, but an opening existed to gain leverage on both sides _and_ advance the cause. This could also free Sela from the Federation prison she now resided in.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Captain Picard hid confusion, preferring to maintain a mask of indifference as a self-professed "Tal Shiar operative" spilled detail after detail on the "Vidiian bioweapon."

"But sir!" he protested. "You are the only one I thought I could trust!"

"We put a stop to that research. The ringleader of this band is imprisoned, the data destroyed!"

"Have a security team there at the time I gave you. You'll see I was telling the truth!"

Picard contacted both Worf and Kira Nerys. Whatever this exchange was supposed to be, it was slated to occur aboard Deep Space 9.

"Romulans do not simply give up information" he'd told Worf. "There has to be another reason for this."

"It is likely a distraction. Or there is a deeper play being made" replied the Klingon. "We ran analysis of the supposed agent who gave you this PADD, and were unable to find anything on visuals or thumbprints left behind. Praetor Hiren has remained silent, and so has Commander Donatra."

"Openness only when it suits them."

"My feelings as well, sir."

At the agreed-upon coordinates near a seldom-trafficked ore-handling chute, two Vidiians waited anxiously. Their Romulan helpers insisted they could obtain "valuable medical technology" including a sophisticated "Emergency Medical Hologram" taken from the Federation through their Section 31 connections. Such a tireless assistant would be able to conduct research without breaks _and_ work directly with Plague agents due to being a hologram who could not be infected with any biological disease. If possible, they would also obtain a "Crystal Gravitational Trap," an anti-cloaking technology so potent no amount of field-tinkering could hide from it since cloaks did not nullify mass.

"Our Section 31 contacts are late" hissed one.

"Oh, I think you're right on time." Picard, flanked by a dozen Federation security personnel, emerged from behind a stack of crates. "I will grant that this is a little dramatic, but I prefer drama to violence."

Judicial proceedings were handled entirely by the Federation since the Vidiians were not covered by the Combined Alliance Court. The result was a sweeping indictment including conspiracy, illegal weapon development, and falsification of documents.

"Even if this Section 31 exists" fumed the presiding judge, "you would still be held responsible for your actions. If robbing a dabo girl would net you sixteen bars of latinum from a slave trader, it does not matter whether the 'slave trader' exists if you were to rob her. A crime was still committed."

Both Vidiians in holding cells and feverishly waiting a check-in that would never come came to the same conclusion: Section 31 either sold them out or were sloppy enough to get caught.

One of the many who'd shaken Dr. Denara Pel's hand was Data. Both he and Starfleet were very interested in a fully-autonomous artificial being, though since the "droid" possessed an organic neural imprint she wasn't _quite_ what Starfleet was hoping for. Still, Admiral Jason Proudmoore agreed to let Starfleet examine a powered-down HRD known as "Jacen" (it had been meant to be used alongside the false "Jaina" as a replacement for her fraternal twin brother).

"The things you find when taking possession of off-budget, secret ships!" he'd said as part of his introduction.

One of Sela's trusted lieutenants remarked it would be very fortunate if the Borg attacked again, since confusion would make it easier to get the HRD back to _Prometheus_ and off to the Delta Quadrant. No such attack occurred. Instead, information gathered from many small scans of Denara Pel's body suggested a different means to obtain the HRD.

The unpowered unit "stood" in a harness as doctors and researchers swarmed around it. Proudmoore delegated several of his science staff to handle answering questions—"because all I could tell you is its dicey history."

With crowds, sticking a tiny device barely bigger than the Doctor's mobile emitter to the HRD's leg wasn't difficult. Upon attachment, it began sending electrical impulses through the HRD's nervous system, causing all manner of spasms. As the unit tipped over, the congenial gathering began to realize something had gone horribly wrong. Before anyone could react, "Jacen" walked jerkily over to a nearby window, smashed it, and dove through.

Emergency forcefields covered the hole in moments, but the HRD disappeared.

A cloaked Romulan scout ship scooped up the spasming, flailing (but blank) machine as it tumbled away from Deep Space 9.

"While Sela is not with us, the vision of a Borg-free galaxy will be brought to fruition!" roared her second-in-command, Koval Parthok. "Through the combined efforts of Section 31, Klingon Intelligence, and the Tal Shiar, we have taken uncivilized actions in a civilized time, so that very civilization may continue to thrive!"

He handed off command to Dominic "Dom" Reed, a descendent of Malcolm Reed who, unlike his forebear, remained with Section 31 after being recruited and now had the de-facto captaincy of USS _Prometheus_.

"We have the android" began Dom. "Now, we take it to the Delta Quadrant and use it as leverage to bring the rest of the Vidiian researchers back with us. At the speed this hyperdrive is capable of, getting there will be less than two days."

In order to power the class-1, it had been planned to install the first hypermatter reactor aboard USS _Defiant_. It, along with the hyperdrive, fell into the hands of Section 31 and now served as the heart of _Prometheus_. As a result of the hyperdrive and reactor, multi-vectoral assault mode no longer functioned. This trade-off was emphatically accepted as worth it due to greatly increased output of the ship's phaser array, stated to be higher than theoretical "lance"-type weapons designed to answer the question of what would turn the _Galaxy_ -class into an effective warship should a major conflict break out. Unfortunately, no turbolasers or ion cannons were included in the shipment, as _Defiant_ had been intended to be a propulsion testbed only.

 _En route_ , Koval's technicians would try to fit a cloaking device, but since they'd been unable to appropriate a larger ship than their scout it would take some careful engineering to even think of scaling up such a small stealth system to a ship the size of _Prometheus_.

"At least we won't run out of power" said one.


	31. Two Fronts

**Chapter 31 – Two Fronts**

Starfleet Command found themselves inundated with distress calls. Vulcan, Andoria, Betazed, Tellar Prime, Risa… It was like a list of the Federation's member-states.

President Bacco made a public appearance assuring everyone that "Starfleet is on the way." The truth of the matter was that Starfleet simply lacked the vessels to defend _every major member world_ from simultaneous Borg assaults. Scraping up a fleet for a decisive strike against the Dominion led to "if it has warp engines and phasers, we'll take it" bringing in roughly 2,000 ships against a foe far inferior to the Borg in a gigantic battle fought at one location. Now, Starfleet engaged superior enemies across its entire territory.

Unlike many Federation worlds possessing only token guard forces, Qo'noS deployed its massive fleet immediately as cubes entered Klingon space.

"Where did they come from?" demanded a frustrated Defense Force admiral. "No warp signatures! They just _appeared!_ "

A meeting of the Extragalactic Asset Monitoring Board led to a single conclusion: the Borg gained mastery of hyperdrive technology.

"It's the only explanation" said Admiral Proudmoore simply. "I will admit, I was wrong to discount them as a threat, however in my defense they only _became_ a threat after obtaining New Republic technology. Unaltered, they would still be the pushovers I derided to Captain Janeway."

"Our thalaron weapons are inflicting significant damage" announced Donatra proudly, displaying the number of drifting, dead Borg ships in Romulan space. "Unfortunately, there are just too many of them for our weapons to keep up. If we could receive assistance generating more thalaron particles…"

Her voice trailed as her eyes bored into Admiral Roddenberry. Civilization's collapse beckoned, yet the Federation would not budge off its refusal to synthesize thalaron particles.

"The Romulan position is not illogical" intoned Ambassador Spock. "If we assume that the Borg will win against our current forces, any action taken to bolster those forces deserves consideration. There are certainly more morally dubious ways to win a war, such as the bioweapon brought by Vidiians from the Delta Quadrant that would have risked all our lives."

Saving lives had been cited as a primary reason for Sela's attempt to deploy the "Plague" against Borg targets. Analysis suggested the exact opposite could have occurred had the virus mutated against the wishes of its creators. Having this fact pointed out only caused Sela to insist the risk was "worth it."

A new version of the Plague would further reduce this risk, and in order to achieve this Sela's agents arrived in the Delta Quadrant aboard USS _Prometheus_. As expected, Vidiian ships were engaged in what could charitably be called a cage match against Hirogen—the scientists did their work aboard one of the largest Vidiian vessels available, making themselves a very obvious target.

"What do you want, Starfleet?" demanded the Vidiian commander.

Sela sighed. They'd forgotten to change the ship's IFF codes, which she proceeded to do, though she could switch them back if needed.

"We're not Starfleet" she replied. "Does Starfleet have Romulans running its ship?"

The Vidiian relaxed slightly.

"We've fought off two waves" said the ship's commander. "But they just keep coming back with more!"

As a third wave closed in, sensors aboard _Prometheus_ detected Vidiian weapon residue on many of the attackers, suggesting "fought off" did not imply "destroyed."

"Worthy prey!" bellowed Hirogen hunting parties. "It has summoned others, which will make our victory even greater!"

Dom Reed demanded to know why the science-battleship had not simply run after obliterating the Hirogen with slow-firing but extremely overcharged phasers.

"Unlike you, we do not possess fantastical warp drives that cross tens of thousands of light-years in mere days. This ship's great power comes from its size, also its weakness—we cannot exceed warp 6."

"We have more items of interest" replied Reed. "Beam over and we will show you."

Their lead scientist (separate from the military-ish units in charge of the ship) introduced himself as Dengue. Open resentment could be heard in his voice as he commented disparagingly on the fate of his superior Mahburge—"What an embarrassing failure, to be caught by the softies in the Federation!"

"Quite honestly, we care nothing for your petty squabbles" snapped Reed. "This galaxy needs results, and if you deliver them that is what is important."

He didn't make any swipes about Dengue's research having been built on Mahburge's work despite knowing that the loud-talking Dengue would have nothing if it weren't for the other researcher he claimed to despise. Even Section 31 was not immune to interpersonal politics in its science division and Reed knew better than to get involved in such things. It was, in fact, one reason _Prometheus_ had stalled for so long until the arrival of a hyperdrive/hypermatter assembly.

Reed brought Dengue's party into a small armory in which the Human Replica Droid stood.

"This is a Human Replica Droid. You will find we have transferred detailed scans of Denara Pel…"

He paused as several Vidiians made noises of disgust, before continuing in an irritated tone that suggested he considered this conflict to be petty as well.

"…who has been successfully placed in the body of a Human Replica Droid back in the Alpha Quadrant. There is no neural degeneration as there was when she briefly inhabited the holobuffer of USS Voyager."

 _Prometheus_ ' captain handed over another PADD containing stolen data on Pel.

"The physicians there believe incompatibilities between Vidiian neural patterns and a system designed to mimic humans could cause problems. Of note, nobody said there was any _guarantee_ of issues and I trust since you are working so diligently on a bioweapon that investigating Vidiian compatibility with this unit would be a small thing in comparison."

Dengue had a hard time concealing his glee.

"This is a gift we could not have dreamed of. Enhanced musculature, lengthened lifespan, resistance to weapons fire, completely immune to the phage…"

He walked around the unit before continuing.

"How many more of these are there in the Alpha Quadrant?"

"We're not sure. I'd guess maybe a dozen" said Reed. "However, since the Alpha Quadrant is currently being consumed by the Borg, a strong case could be made for building more since they are so squeamish about bioweapons. No reason you couldn't deploy the weapon using these HRD bodies…"

"What is GEDI?" demanded one of Dengue's assistants.

Reed conceded he didn't know. "Whatever those functions are, they were locked out on the body Denara Pel inhabited. We couldn't get a reading on them other than to say it exists."

"Sensors have picked up ships!" interrupted tactical. "They appear to be Malon."

"This should be quick" said Reed, a nasty smile forming on his face.

Indeed, the Malons were even easier to defeat than the Hirogen. With phaser strips that equaled hypothetical cannons in output and shields a factor of ten stronger than they were supposed to be (more could not be had without overloading the grid), Malons presented zero threat. In fact, the waste left behind might have been more dangerous, were _Prometheus_ to experience a shield failure.

"Borg! ETA five minutes!"

Dom ordered the Vidiians to gather "everything of value" from their craft. Not that he thought the Borg would be too big a problem.

A two-minute dual with a sphere ensued, ending in the sphere's destruction. However, a follow-up cube proved nearly immune to phaser fire, even the over-charged variety _Prometheus_ slung about.

"And that is our exit cue" announced Reed. "Phase Two: Undo!"

He shooed the Vidiians away, telling them in no uncertain terms to "get back to work" if they wanted help obtaining HRDs. As far as Vidiians were concerned, "undo" meant "get rid of the Borg." For the intelligence triumvirate that assembled as allies of convenience, it also meant "retrieve Sela and the other Vidiians _who we sold out_ from two separate Federation prisons."

"Is the cloaking device working?" Reed would prefer to use it if at all possible.

Koval Parthok had good news and bad news.

"It will function for thirty minutes, give or take, before the stress of hiding a ship this large causes it to fail, so use it wisely. It also cannot mask a hyperspace transit, entry or exit. We will have to use warp."

Since _Prometheus_ represented a top-secret Section 31 project, nobody in Starfleet knew or cared about its absence. It did have proper Starfleet identification in a pinch, though enough digging would reveal a ship with no history beyond the fact that it existed. Hence, when its warp signature was detected near Facility 4028, nobody blinked. Anyone who had the location of _this_ base probably was cloak-and-dagger to begin with.

Retrieving Sela required very little fuss.

The Vidiians, however, were held in a more conventional prison requiring aboveboard forms of identification. Pulling up and saying "Section 31, get out of the way" wouldn't work here—it was the downside of being officially nonexistent to the point where most "regular" Starfleet were unaware of its mission.

"So I suppose we have to smash and grab" concluded Reed.

A minor debate broke out over whether it would be better to obscure the vessel's Starfleet registry number and name. Reed argued for doing so, saying it would "only take a few hours" to have crew in EVA suits do exactly that and prevent anyone from associating a borderline-terrorist act with the Federation. Koval Parthok believed otherwise, insisting their actions would be _so_ radical people would think the ship's markings themselves were fake since no Federation captain would give orders to break open a Federation prison.

"Besides" said Parthok, "you've forgotten how fast a hyperdrive is. We're almost there!"

They needn't have worried. Borg attacks practically everywhere meant a low-security prison wasn't going to have more than a couple runabouts, if that. Hence, nobody noticed the vaporization of a _single_ runabout and the theft of a very specific set of prisoners.

"Game time" said Reed, ducking out of sight.

"As you can see" began Sela grandly, stepping in front of Parthok, "the Tal Shiar will succeed where Section 31 failed. They sold you out. But we have undone their mistake."

Well-aware the Vidiians could, in fact, speak to one another and thus crack the masquerade, Sela, Reed, and Konjah figured it worth the risk. They were the ones with the guns, ship, and Human Replica Droids. The Vidiians could either do as bidden or meet an airlock.


	32. House of Cards

**Chapter 32 – House of Cards**

"The most we can do now is evacuate" intoned Jean-Luc Picard at a War Council convened aboard Deep Space 9. "Reports are coming in from all over the Federation—Borg cubes destroying planets within hours of arrival. We must seriously consider that this could be the end of our civilization as we know it."

"Are you suggesting we give up?" hissed Worf.

"No Mr. Worf, I am suggesting that we face reality, which may mean that this station is the last bastion of Borg-free life in this quadrant!"

Picard's words described exactly why an influx of starships had been arriving at DS9 over the past week or so. Most were heavily damaged.

"I cannot raise Romulus" said Donatra simply. "The Praetor is having similar experiences." She did not elaborate on the reason why—mainly, the Shadow Protocol in which all Romulan warships were to cloak, scatter, and maintain radio silence until an all-clear came.

"We will hold Qo'noS, or die in the glory of battle!" thundered Martok. "The Klingon Defense Forces have not lost our home, and will not so long as there is blood pumping through their veins!"

Kira Nerys ran over an inventory of available ships. There wasn't much—why bother when a dreadnaught bigger than anything any of their civilizations had ever seen cut enemies to ribbons in minutes or less? She didn't count many of the vessels that had fled here as a place of sanctuary as most were in bad shape, nowhere near fit to fight.

"If this is our last stand" she said quietly, "then we will make damn sure they remember us. None here dies without taking some of them with us!" she shouted, slamming a fist into the conference table.

Nerys gave a sheepish look around the table before yielding the floor.

"Analysis of Borg movements does suggest we may have more time" added Worf. "Since the Borg have been observed to be using hyperdrive technology, they have steered clear of Deep Space 9 despite having easy access to it through both the wormhole and hyperdrive. I suspect that even with their assimilated advantages, NRSS Redemption is simply too much for them."

Seven of Nine stood, transferring data from a PADD to a larger screen while explaining its meaning.

"We will continue to resist. Work on crystalline synthesis has yielded materials that may enable us to duplicate the so-called turbolaser technology brought by the New Republic. This is our latest prototype."

Images showed yellow blasts of energy not unlike pulse phasers impacting the shields of a smaller triangular ship under the shadow of Proudmoore's Super Star Destroyer.

"The vessel being targeted is designated 'Compass' and is a smaller tactical asset built on the same principles as Redemption. We noticeably drained its shields with these strikes, suggesting our attempts to emulate the technology are succeeding."

The former drone stepped aside in favor of B'Elanna Torres.

"As for power generation, well, we took some inspiration from our Romulan friends. Warp core overpressure hits a plateau where gains are extremely minimal but keep demanding more and more energy from the unimatrix field. In theory, if we pass the plateau power increases become exponential again but mathematical models suggest we'd need three orders of magnitude more pressure to even have a chance. Instead, we've been working on a multi-resonant, pressurized quantum singularity core."

Admiral Proudmoore might well have been listening to Shyriiwook for all he understood of these words. He was joined in his confusion by the remainder of Starfleet personnel on the phrase "multi-resonant, pressurized quantum singularity core," however.

Seeing the blank looks, Torres elaborated.

"Romulan engine cores normally only have one singularity. What we discovered was that using more than one in a concentrated quantum field inside a unimatrix chamber actually multiplied the energy generated. The more singularities we added, the bigger the multiplier. Of course, there's a limit here too—four. Beyond that, the whole thing shakes itself apart."

She'd been ready to give up as the gains versus unimatrix warp cores were small, less than 100% when orders of magnitude more improvements were required. However, she ended up being inspired by, of all things, her husband's rant about the impracticality of V6 engine designs in the 20th century until technology caught up.

"They were unbalanced—they rattled, they bucked, they sounded awful!" he'd said. "But once engineers figured out how to balance them, the old conventional wisdom about only buying cars with four or eight cylinders went out the window."

"Once we figured out how to damp the vibrations with an oscillating harmonic field, we were able to simulate up to sixteen singularities, and build a prototype with eight."

The numbers on Torres' chart caused Admiral Proudmoore to sit up straight.

 _They've gone and done it. Sure it's not a Star Destroyer sized reactor, but that would run a cruiser…_

"Such a design will require careful monitoring. Should the singularities coalesce into a single entity, it would likely destroy the ship as well as creating a navigational hazard."

Torres resisted the urge to swipe at Seven's negativity. Technically, she wasn't wrong.

"This is all very promising" said Captain Janeway. "But how quickly can we scale up production of this technology?"

"If we reinforce Qo'noS, we will gain access to its shipyards" suggested Martok.

"I agree, but it is very risky" said Picard. "If we split our forces and the Borg arrive here in large numbers, what will stop them from overrunning the last Federation sanctuary?"

Left unsaid: The only ship capable of breaking Borg fleets without modification would be _Redemption_.

Kira Nerys spoke up again.

"Give us the weapons of the New Republic! This station was turned into a fortress against the Dominion—let it be a bulwark against the Borg!"

Martok leaned over to Worf, and a whispered conversation heard by nobody followed.

"It…pains me to say this" said Martok stiffly. "I must… I must confess that Qo'noS will not hold out for very long. In a war of attrition, the machines have us beaten."

"How long do we have?" asked Picard.

"A week. Two at most."

His greatest fear involved everyone turning away. Relations between the Empire and Federation had been tested by a Changeling who impersonated Martok and caused a war between the two powers. They'd overcome it, but deep suspicions remained on both sides.

"You heard the Chancellor!" exhorted Captain Picard. "We have work to do."


	33. LifeStar

**Chapter 33 – LifeStar**

"Here are the rough plans" panted B'Elanna Torres. She, Seven of Nine, and Oviha Tupa had hammered together a rough sketch of what could be done to Deep Space 9 in an hour. Now, they presented their ideas to the rest of the War Council.

"You might want to run that past Professor O'Brien."

"What use would a professor be in this?" asked a skeptical B'Elanna.

"He is not merely a professor" replied Picard with an air of annoyance. "He used to be the Chief of Operations aboard Deep Space 9, and his input would be valuable for modifications this extensive. When he heard I was headed to the station, he insisted on visiting. It looks like good fortune—as Earth has doubtlessly fallen by now."

Torres tried to keep a lid on her volcanic Klingon temper as O'Brien tore into her suggestions.

"No, no, no! This won't work. You can't just stick all these power couplings in the Promenade. If they're damaged, it could easily cascade to the main reactor!"

"Then where else are they supposed to go?" snarled the engineer. "I can't just float them in space!"

"I concur with both sets of objections" said Seven of Nine in her annoyingly even, logical tone. "We must find a way to address each. The modules are required, but the suggested location is poor."

"This station's architecture wasn't meant for weapon mounts this extensive" sighed O'Brien. "That much was clear during the 2372 retrofit! Lots of jury-rigging and sticking conduits in sub-optimal places. This isn't a battlestation, and it shows."

"Well, aren't we supposed to turn it _into_ a battlestation?" asked Oviha Tupa.

"What if we used the mine shafts?" wondered Torres. "It's not like anyone is going to be worried about losing that function…"

"Too thin!" objected O'Brien, his head tipping back in exasperation at the same suggestion coming up for the third time. "They still won't fit, no matter how many times someone says that."

"Then make the area you're putting them in thicker." Tupa rolled her eyes.

"I believe a lack of sufficient regeneration and nutrition has caused this group to become irritable and experience reduced efficiency. I propose a four-hour halt to activities. We shall reconvene at 2000 hours."

The party grumpily dispersed.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" asked a stormy B'Elanna to Tom Paris.

"You know, I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad to be on baby duty."

"Every time I have an idea, 'No, that won't work because Starfleet regulation 3924 says…' As if that matters now!"

Tom looked over his wife's PADD. Now his brow creased as he tried to figure out how to tell her that she was being a little stubborn. Virtually none of O'Brien's objections were anything about Starfleet regulations.

"B'Elanna… I know you're frustrated. You've been working a lot lately—and having the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders isn't helping."

"You think?" she snapped, harsher than she meant to be. "When Captain Janeway made me Chief Engineer, I wondered how I could ever live up to the chance she gave me. The faith she and Chakotay shared. What would my staff think? Would they work with me, or reject me because I wasn't Starfleet? Oh, and there was also the matter of over a hundred lives depending on me to get back home. That's all in the past, and quite insignificant by comparison to this. So yes. I'm frustrated."

"Tell you what. Why don't we see if the Doctor and Denara will take care of Miral for an hour, since you have two more left before you're expected to report back to the Collective."

She snorted at his humor.

"Part of me wants to deck you for that."

"Is that before or after I start reading poetry?" Tom grinned; he could feel some of her anger and tension dissipating even if B'Elanna didn't want to admit it.

The Doctor answered in the affirmative, liberating the pair to the holosuite.

Seven of Nine showed up solo before an abbreviated War Council, its name having become official.

"I project the time required to complete these designs will not permit us to reinforce the Klingon homeworld before the Borg are victorious." She handed over a PADD bolstering her case.

"Does the rest of the team share your opinion?" asked Janeway.

"They are fractured. Disunited. They permit disagreements over personal matters to consume valuable shift time, undermining the efficiency of this group."

Janeway cracked a smile. "You didn't answer the question."

"She has a point, though" interjected Admiral Proudmoore. "If our teams can't find a way to refit this Deep Space 9 of yours enough to let Redemption leave, we can't claim the Qo'noS shipyards."

"This is your technology" replied Janeway. "We've started learning about it, but you're the experts. Do you have any ideas to speed up the process?"

Proudmoore paged through the designs Seven brought.

"I'm an admiral, not an engineer. I'll have Tupa look at it without anyone else, and give her the singular goal of speeding it up."

The Mirialan found herself summoned an hour before she was supposed to return to the design group.

"Oviha, I hate to do this" began Proudmoore. "I am going behind the rest of the team's back. But the War Council agrees with Seven of Nine that progress is just too slow. Go over these designs by yourself. Ignore anything that doesn't make the station build-out happen faster. We were supposed to spend two days planning and the rest building, we're nearly through the second day. This needs to happen. Now."

Upon reconvening, Torres, O'Brien, and Seven found a message to meet Tupa in the War Council chambers.

"Explain your reason for changing our meeting location" said Seven, first thing.

Tupa kept the Council's private warning to her in mind and didn't say anything about one person on the whole team going behind everyone else's backs. Instead, she made it a Council opinion.

"A Council review of the design process decided we were moving too slowly to carry out our strategy against the Borg."

She also blamed technology rather than people for the slowdown.

"It has become apparent that we will not be able to replicate the required crystal structures quickly enough to arm Deep Space 9. Furthermore, structural additions need to begin now if we are to complete the up-armament on time."

She tossed out a holoemitter which displayed a rotating model of a _Nebula_ -class Star Destroyer.

"As a result, we will be stripping armaments from _Compass_ and _Orienteer_ to arm the station. Our new project is to create the necessary infrastructure to house these weapons rather than replicating weapons ourselves."

"Can't we just leave the ships here, if their weapons are all we need?" asked Torres.

"It's not just the weapons" countered Proudmoore. "We need to scale up shielding too." He then detailed the "unitary dreadnaught" theory that had been driving starship design in his galaxy. It stated that having a single big vessel would outperform an aggregate fleet of smaller vessels that were equivalent on paper because while the dreadnaught would remain in the fight with a consistent level of firepower, the smaller fleet would suffer a linear (if not worse) decrease in its fighting ability as their opponent picked them off one by one.

He changed a screen in the room to display a chart.

REDEMPTION PERSONNEL*

Operational Complement: 280,734 – 43.19%

Colonists: 134,314 – 20.66%

Security Forces: 67,143 – 10.33%

Civilian Support: 167,809 – 25.82%

Science: 14,722

Medical: 2,389

Administrative: 6,891

Labor, Skilled: 36,579

Labor, Unskilled: 52,168

Other: 55,060

* Does not include independent crews of support vessels

"We weren't planning to colonize this galaxy—we suspected a strong civilization existed here so we wanted to fit in" explained Proudmoore at the low "colonist" numbers. "We have more than enough laborers to refit this station quickly; all we need is a blueprint for how to do it. Crews have already begun breaking down armaments from our two Star Destroyers and prepping hyperdrives to be moved to what combat-capable starships you have."

"Who says we need to break everything down?" protested O'Brien. "I know this is going to look horrible, but what about somehow combining the ships with the station?"

Oviha Tupa felt a slight sense of contrition before turning to B'Elanna Torres.

"So…we might need that reactor ejection system after all."

Arrangements were hastily made to move 14,078 crew from _Compass_ and _Orienteer_ as the ships were ripped apart. Most would be re-housed aboard _Redemption_ but a few would see service aboard the newly-upgraded Deep Space 9.

"The fastest way to get those hypermatter cores out is to eject them" said Torres, having taken charge along with O'Brien. Her expertise in New Republic technology as viewed from a Starfleet perspective would combine with his experience running the station.

"We'll have to replicate the connectors, but we were going to have to do that anyway so it's not a loss" she continued. "The station needs to be temporarily evacuated too since we're going to be shutting down all the power systems when we disconnect its fusion reactor."

"If we use the docking pylons as projectors, the shields will be several orders of magnitude stronger than they were even on the Nebulas" added O'Brien. "Place the reactors in structures at the center of both sets of arms, and it optimizes power distribution."

Seven of Nine held back comment on the nature of placing power couplings essentially in space and using the thin docking arms for a non-mining function. She did feel the need to point out that additional support structures required to hold the reactors would "making mounting additional weapons simpler."

"O'Brien!" Torres handed him a stack of PADDs, distracting him from manipulating an image of Deep Space 9 with two reactors and additional mount-points. "Take a look at this."

"I could make this work" he replied enthusiastically. "Would give us some time before those damned Borg get within transporter range!"

Meanwhile, hypermatter reactors pulled from transports, corvettes, and even fighters were being crammed into "battery"-style containers. This would enable them to be used to power hyperdrives for one jump, then be discarded. The process was wasteful, but much faster than trying to integrate hypermatter systems into every combat-capable ship available.


	34. Outbreak

**Chapter 34 – Outbreak**

Aboard USS _Prometheus_ , a minor scuffle ensued when the Emergency Medical Hologram Mark-II, informed of his new purpose, refused to cooperate citing "ethical subroutines."

"If the Voyager EMH were here, he'd…"

"Obey" replied Koval Parthok. "I've already shown one Vidiian the airlock for questioning our work here. Imagine what I could do to you."

"No threats are required. I will begin work immediately."

Two goals were given for Plague Mark II: Reduce the risk of blowback and accelerate the infection rate. Unfortunately, they ran counter to each other as the best way to accomplish the latter meant more mutation, increasing the risk of the former but limiting the ability of nanoprobes to fight back.

After many seemingly-fruitless hours ("I feel so unappreciated!" complained the EMH as he was left active 24/7, often alone) a workable new version had 17.3% lower chance of blowback "against humanoids" while more than doubling infectivity. It would also survive delivery via torpedo better than its predecessor, and could, in a pinch, be included in certain types of phaser beams.

"We are one ship" mused Parthok. "How will we deploy this weapon?"

"If it were used in sufficient quantities, it would achieve the goal" said Sela. "However, I somehow doubt that the morally-upright Federation would employ it even to save themselves. That is, assuming there is anyone left to save."

"Who says the Federation has to be the ones who use it?" asked Reed. "What of others, who are more in line with our views that victory should be had at any cost?"

"Surely you do not mean the Klingons" taunted Sela. "Their _honor_ will take them to _Sto-vo-kor_ but that does, of course, mean they're dead." She grinned, as if this were amusing.

"Now is not the time for honor" growled Drarnus Konjah. "We must ensure the weapon is used!"

A small fleet of Klingon freighters escorted by a single _Vor'cha_ arrived at Deep Space 9. They hailed the station, claiming to be refugees from a "fallen Klingon colony." When asked for more information, the leader became belligerent.

"Most of our ships were destroyed before we could fight back" said the "colonial leader" (in reality a member of Klingon Intelligence). "To avenge our dead, to send them to Sto-vo-kor, we request their armaments and names be taken into battle against the Borg!"

It appeared the notion of being taken by surprise via hyperspace was becoming very real, even for the Klingon Empire.

"Why would a colony have so many torpedoes?" wondered Worf. "Three hundred high-yield warheads!"

An answer came from an unlikely source—Commander Donatra.

"We suspect" she confided "that this colony may have been a cover for other activities. Though we have not yet verified their origin since they won't give us a name, there were several covert Klingon operations very close to Romulan borders who thought we were unaware of them. This may be one."

"Wouldn't the Romulan Star Empire have noticed if Borg were poking around?" Picard maintained a level of healthy skepticism dealing with all things Romulan, even though he wanted to remain on good terms (especially in the middle of a war).

"I have not been able to communicate with military, intelligence, or governmental personnel" she replied.

The War Council decided to take the Klingons at their word, and spread newly-arrived weapons among Klingon ships that fled the Borg. Construction on Deep Space 9 reached a fever pitch as tens of thousands of laborers poured off _Redemption_ for their daily shifts, returning afterward as the station could not accommodate them all, not even temporarily. What the station could do, in theory, was hold back Borg. With shielding matching ships at the low end of the Star Dreadnaught league and the armaments of two _Nebula_ -class Star Destroyers complemented with a few super-heavy guns from _Redemption_ , the station became a veritable fortress. Heavy durasteel armor plate pulled from the mostly-stripped Star Destroyers completed the upgrade.

"Cardassian architecture with a Federation touch and New Republic subsystems. Quite the combination" said Kira Nerys.

"Remember that slogan, 'Bajor for Bajorans?' It looks like we're going to need exactly that" replied Odo. "Most of these crews will be shipping out aboard the Star Dreadnaught. As the only major planet that hasn't been attacked by the Borg, the population of Bajor has to step up."

"In what, less than a week?" Kira slammed her hands into a console. "You expect civilians, who have been doing nothing but scratching out a living, to take up arms and operate technology from another galaxy in two days?"

"No" said the maddeningly-calm Odo who had since returned to Ops aboard the station. "They can fill out the ships that fled here over the past few months. Most of the New Republic gunnery officers assigned to the ships we used to arm this station will remain aboard DS9."

"Back when I fought with the Bajoran resistance, there were a lot of missions people knew they weren't coming back from, either intentionally or just because we were using atmospheric assault craft against warp-capable warships."

"So you're saying they won't come?"

Nerys smiled. It was not a nice one.

"No. I'm saying they'll have trouble finding positions for all the volunteers."

"I can appreciate enthusiasm" fumed Worf to Picard afterward, "but they are not Starfleet or military! Disobeying orders, 'shooting from the hip' as you say…"

"Mr. Worf, right now, we have to make do with the forces we have."

The Klingon nodded his head in acceptance. "Understood, Captain. I apologize for letting my frustration show through."

"No apologies necessary. Just remember that these people are not, as you said, Starfleet."

A transmission from Admiral Proudmoore addressed the ragtag assembly of ships, after which the de facto captain of each vessel had a few minutes to make any speech to their individual crew they thought necessary. Some focused on the necessity of the coming battle, others confessed fatalism at their chances ("Thirty ships against a Borg armada? That didn't end well last time!"), while a third group simply whipped their enlisted into a frenzy.

"You going to be okay back here, Commander?" Proudmoore saved a separate transmission for the station.

"Admiral, you have no idea… I've been fighting impossible battles since I could hold a phaser. Believe me, either they're going down, or we are."

Proudmoore admitted to hoping the anger of the Bajorans would prove an asset rather than a liability. At least in the case of the relatively disciplined Kira Nerys, he saw the former, as did those serving under her. No New Republic crew member voiced any objection to being placed under the command of a different force.

The journey from Bajor to Qo'noS would take days or weeks with conventional warp drive, however even a class-4 hyperdrive could do the same thing in a little more than one hour. Thus, "hyper-batteries" built in parallel with the station's up-armament were attached to "anything with a warp drive and phasers." Knowing such weapons would be useless, these smaller, weaker ships were fitted with a jury-rigged shuttle allowing a single pilot to fly each as a manned antimatter/hypermatter missile. The pilot would clear at the last moment. Many Bajorans and more than a few Klingons volunteered for these assignments, including the captain of the _Vor'cha_ that escorted colonial freighters in.

"With fifty torpedoes in our cargo hold, the Borg will surely feel the wrath of our weapon!" he'd communicated in private to USS _Prometheus_.

The thirty-something odd ships (not counting additional vessels embarked aboard _Redemption_ ) hyperspaced out, headed to Qo'noS.

"The fleet is clear. Power up the last directional gravity wells!"

Commander Kira would take advantage of turbolasers' superior range to get some shots in before Borg attackers could respond, assuming they showed up. A few tweaks to the Vidiian's weapon from New Republic engineers produced a no-FTL zone the size of the entire Bajor system, projected from generators spaced around DS9. The field would have to be carefully monitored since its immense volume came primarily from pushing systems past their limits, but the extra warning time was viewed as a worthwhile rationale for doing so.

"When we are one lightyear from Qo'noS, activate your hyperwave inertial momentum sustainers and sync your computers to _Redemption_ " ordered Admiral Proudmoore.

The fleet did as commanded, though multiple inquiries arose as to what, exactly, a hyperwave inertial momentum sustainer was.

"They were installed with your hyperdrives" replied the Admiral. "They'll let you stay in hyperspace even through an interdiction field like the one we threw up around Deep Space 9. I suspect our Borg friends may have acquired that technology, and if they are employing it, we would be dropped to sublight a long way from these Vekah Yards. Then probably ambushed."

Blue alert registered on every vessel other than _Redemption_ as the HIMS kicked in. Traveling at hyperdrive class 4, a precise maneuver would permit the whole fleet to revert to realspace extremely close to the target, closer than even a smuggler's navigational computer would allow. This was achieved by having every ship link to _Redemption_ , which shut down HIMS fleetwide at just the right time.

"Maneuver at will!" barked the Admiral as his attack force rematerialized into a maelstrom of debris from destroyed Klingon and Borg ships.

Some took more damage than others, namely those still relying on navigational deflectors alone ended up in the most trouble. Then the Borg arrived from behind Qo'noS.

Three manned missiles crashed into a cube, detonating its reactor. Escape shuttles successfully cleared the resulting blast.

"Regardless of beliefs on the morality of this practice, we lack sufficient numbers of these vessels to defeat the oncoming attack with them alone" said Seven of Nine at her station on _Voyager_ 's bridge.

Two cubes and a sphere zeroed in on _Red Knight 1_. The assault corvette never really had a chance, being hit with multiple beams at once overloading its shields by focusing on a single spot and bisecting the ship in seconds.

"This is Captain Picard—we have a visual on the Vekah Yards."

Three gargantuan facilities orbited in geostationary orbit above their supply stations on the surface.

A _Galor_ warship aided by a Bajoran cruiser attacked a probe launching from the yards, but had little effect with their phasers. They switched to handfuls of turbolasers drawing power from their hyper-batteries, though these rapidly depleted the power units that used most of their energy to get the ships to Qo'noS in the first place. The probe imploded, but was rapidly replaced by a new vessel seen only once on Starfleet sensors during _Voyager_ 's trip through the Delta Quadrant.

"The Queen is here?" demanded Captain Janeway. "Or, perhaps, a descendent of hers?"

"Possibly" replied Seven. "However, in our encounters with the Queen she has made a point to contact me specifically. It is usually an effort to distract me from my work in order to gain a tactical advantage. The absence of such an effort—humans might refer to the behavior as 'taunting'—implies the Queen is not here."

"All weapons, fire!" Even with a quarter of his weapons offline, Proudmoore figured this new enemy would eventually liquefy like others before it.

Before a single discharge could take place, the Klingon Vor'cha brought from "a colony" accelerated out of formation on a collision course with the dodecahedron-shaped ship.

"Today is a good day to die!"

A/N: I used the Ex Astris Scientia map by Christian Ruhl to estimate the distance from Bajor to Qo'noS.


	35. Aftermath

**Chapter 35 – Aftermath**

Sensors across the entire fleet lit up, causing Blue Alerts throughout.

"Biological contaminant detected in local space. All inbound vessels and personnel will be placed in biohazard level 3 fields for decontamination."

As a medical emergency, sensor data automatically went to sickbay aboard each vessel.

"Doctor to the bridge."

"Please tell me it's not something horrible—I'd like some good news for once" sighed Captain Janeway, well aware her EMH might have to disobey such an "order."

"The Blue Alert you just saw was triggered by a pathogen very similar to the one I worked on with Dr. Crusher. The one derived from Denara Pel's research, albeit in a rather twisted manner."

"Doctor, that's fifteen days' solitary confinement. I specifically asked for good news."

"Shall I serve deactivated or activated?" asked the Doctor, before continuing to describe the actual issue. "That Klingon ship contained a very large amount of the pathogen, and when it exploded the bioweapon bathed the yards and surrounding space with the viral agent. The good news is, this version of the weapon is less likely to infect humanoids, though only by 17%."

"You can serve your sentence by being the first one over to the yards after we clean up any Borg ships here."

Seven of Nine ignored the banter, reporting "Borg activity on the three shipyards is decreasing, likely due to the biological weapon deployed by the Klingons."

"Not that I approve of using biological weapons, but how long until it finishes?"

"Based on the rate of decay from Borg lifesigns, six hours."

"Doctor!" Janeway wanted to know more about this weapon. "How dangerous is it going to be if we head over to the yards in six hours?"

"I wouldn't venture aboard without an environmental suit, if that's what you're asking" he replied.

"So now we wait. Transmit all this information to Proudmoore. He probably doesn't have our protocols and may be unaware of the significance of what just happened."

A strident debate broke out while the six-hour clock wound down. Many within Starfleet's command ranks were uncomfortable with the notion of profiting from a tactic they found abhorrent, especially since the response had been to jail the one who created this "Plague."

"There are six different regulations and at least one treaty banning the use of biogenic weapons" thundered Jean-Luc Picard. "Surely, with the technology we have on-hand usage of such tactics is not necessary! This is not who we are."

"Even from a pragmatic point of view, I agree" added Kathryn Janeway. During her debriefing, some of her actions in the Delta Quadrant drew condemnation for being inconsistent with Starfleet ideals at best, violations of the Prime Directive at worst. "But even were we to throw all of what Jean-Luc just said out the airlock—a position I refuse to take—there is still too much of a danger to ourselves. What might save us would almost definitely also destroy us."

"The shipyards are now free of Borg lifesigns" announced Seven of Nine some time later. "Threat of contamination is now the only danger."

The War Council concluded it would be shortsighted to leave the Vekah Yards unclaimed on moral principle, but also stipulated that this decision did not constitute precedent or abandonment of the Khitomer Accords' prohibition on biogenic weapons. Thus, teams in environmental suits moved to take possession.

Navigating through dense debris from both Borg and Klingon ships, Worf commented on the state of Qo'noS.

"We would destroy our home before we would let them have it!"

Huge fires visible from space gave truth to his words—though parts of the planet were assimilated other sections remained under Klingon control. Klingon prowess at physical combat presented a disadvantage to the Borg that typically did not manifest in beam-battles against other Federation species. Adaptation against the _bat'leth_ or even holographic bullets would pose problems, and were not generally considered a worthwhile threat. Until now.

Even Borg manifesting crude telekinesis found Klingons deprived of their weapons to be deadly opponents. In many cases the Klingon would regain control of his/her weapon and kill the one who stole it.

"Kahless Squad reports docking" said Worf.

"Kirk Squad checking in" replied Janeway.

"Coruscant Squad reporting" finished Jaina Raynor. Her medicinal Force use led to her being placed in charge of the New Republic shipyard reclamation team.

Captain Picard remained aboard the _Enterprise_ to coordinate fleet defenses.

 _Captain's Log, Stardate 56345.2: We've begun the process of recovering the Vekah Yards. They are in decent shape considering they just had Borg on them, followed by the detonation of a Klingon ship loaded with biogenic weapons. Our teams are required to work in environmental suits, since the resident physicians cannot be sure the weapon will not affect us. Still, it's been quiet. And that's what worries me._

"Redemption will haul the yards one at a time" announced Proudmoore. "We will deposit them at Deep…"

His pronouncement found itself cut off by six tactical fusion cubes dropping out of hyperspace. Two of them angled straight for Vekahs 2 and 3, while the rest engaged his fleet. Borg cutting beams tore into two Federation ships before they could even power their shields.

"Shelter!" commanded Proudmoore. His Star Dreadnaught took a beating as its shields dropped to permit other vessels to take up positions that would be protected once its shields switched back on.

"Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Jedi Guardians, report to the following areas…"


	36. Sabers and Slugthrowers

**Chapter 36 – Sabers and Slugthrowers**

"At least the Borg didn't seem to have any plan in mind beaming aboard" said Proudmoore, seeing as they'd materialized in all sorts of random places. "Not that this is any comfort whatsoever. All non-combat personnel, evacuate to the nearest shelter. This is not a drill."

On a separate channel, he ordered his best Sensing Guardians to sniff out drones. "A single loose Borg could assimilate this whole ship" he said. "Do _not_ let any of them escape your notice!"

Oviha Tupa oversaw securing a department that could count as a ship unto itself—thousands of personnel were needed to run the reactor systems aboard a Star Dreadnaught-scale vessel.

She held a small cylinder in her hand, having received orders from Proudmoore, "just in case."

It wouldn't come to that, she thought. Not with assault troopers at every junction and six Jedi Guardians backing them. The first wave of drones fell to massed Heavy Repeater fire that tore through them like flimsiplast.

"Adapt to _this_ " shouted some wielders of the weapon. Unfortunately, that's exactly what they did.

The next wave took almost no damage, but not for the usual reason.

"Tupa to bridge, we have a problem."

"What is it?" Tactical took command, not bothering Proudmoore with every issue aboard his ship.

"The drones, we aren't hitting them. It's like the bullets pass _through_ them! Anything in the database we got from Starfleet about this?"

"They must be interphase" replied Tactical. "You'll have to use disruptors!"

"Oh, that's just great" snapped Tupa. "There are probably sixty drones down here—and that's _after_ we filled a bunch with repeater slugs!"

"No more will be beaming in, however. Our shields are back online."

Tupa didn't respond to the good news, instead ordering the few people authorized to use disruptor weapons forward. Three shots were required to destroy a drone with disruptor fire. Given the slow-firing, high-energy properties associated with even the most advanced disruptor rifles, squad commanders ordered that only two shots be employed since that was enough to "bring them back into phase." After that, Heavy Repeaters or lightsabers did a fine job.

The same drama played out aboard each of the Vekah shipyards. Yes, drones were beaming into a biohazardous environment in which they would soon lose functionality and die (quite grotesquely, it was said by those who saw the effect of the "Plague") but each wave lasted slightly longer than the previous one.

"Worf to Picard! We cannot hold this yard forever—they will overwhelm us by sheer numbers if we do not find a way to stop the cubes transporting more drones aboard."

 _Redemption_ let loose on the two tactical fusion cubes harassing Vekahs 2 and 3. This created a problem—in order to bring most of its heavy weapons to bear an _Executor_ had to direct its topside at the enemy. But the goal was to grab each yard in tractor beams mounted by the main hanger, requiring the exact opposite orientation. Combine this with the fact that Borg tactical fusion cubes now essentially rated as low-level Star Dreadnaughts themselves, and _Redemption_ found itself having a very bad day.

Commander Kira Nerys wasn't doing much better. Deep Space 9 shook as if hit.

"Report!"

Odo returned to Security as though he'd never left. Miles O'Brien happily conceded half the ops/tactical duty hat he'd been wearing, not that such doubling-up was uncommon. Lieutenant Nog took up sensors/comm instead of just maintenance and Ezri Dax was assigned to science. A fuller staffing had been set to occur (including a new security chief and Bajoran liaison) until the whole _Redemption_ /Borg mess intervened.

"Looks like a Borg fleet just got pulled out of…well, I'm not sure whether it's hyperspace or warp, but whatever they were in, our gravity wells yanked them out of it. That's what shook us."

"At least we have some time before they show up" replied Kira. "Contact our fleet—let them know they're not going to come back to a ticker-tape parade."

"Ground teams, report!" ordered Picard.

"Vekah 2 Kahless Squad is falling back" replied Worf. "We are facing stiff resistance. I advise abandoning the yard, Captain."

"Vekah 3 Kirk Squad is being forced to retreat" said Tuvok. "Our tactical position is untenable. I suggest we concentrate on attempting to secure one facility."

Jaina Raynor had the only positive news. "Vekah 1 Coruscant Squad is advancing."

"Given the levels of damage we're sustaining, I suggest we take what we can get and go." Proudmoore's comments came as he received word that concentrated Borg fire might actually cause a shield breach for the first time.

"Picard to Kahless and Kirk teams—beam out."

Proudmoore ordered his escorts, still sheltered under _Redemption_ 's shield bubble, to provide what covering fire they could as the massive ship rolled on its axis to grab the damaged-but-functional Vekah 1.

"You know, if we hadn't issued all our assault teams the same weapons, I'd think the Borg were toying with us" said Proudmoore to Picard. "It's not like the squads from this galaxy were any weaker offensively than my Coruscant group."

"They may well be doing exactly that." Picard's voice dripped venom. "The Borg were once thought to be a monolithic force bent only on assimilation and destruction. Then I met the Queen."

"Incoming comm from the Deep Space facility. Sir, you might want to see this."

Deep Space 9's computer transmitted a representation of a fusion cube escorted by several tactical vessels.

"Now, lest you get into a panic, we're not threatened" came the voice of Commander Kira. "Not yet. They're stuck at impulse thanks to our gravity wells and even with their relatively higher sublight speed, it'll be almost a day before they get here."

"We were actually just leaving" replied Picard. "The Borg have overwhelmed two of our teams but we did secure one shipyard."

Kira slapped a console.

"We could try to trap the Borg between the station and us" suggested Proudmoore. "Adjust the size of the gravity well so that it pulls us out of hyperspace on top of them." He turned to Picard.

"Do you think if the gravity well shrank, the Borg would use transwarp or hyperspace in an attempt to get closer to the station?"

"Of course. It would offer them a tactical advantage." Picard concealed his thinking the question silly.

"Commander Kira, take these numbers and do the math. Figure out given our travel speed, the gravity well size, and the estimated position of that Borg fleet how to resize the gravity well to bring the Borg within weapons range of Deep Space 9 shortly before we arrive."

"Vekah 1 secured."

"Thank you, Guardian Raynor. Kirk Squad? Kahless Squad?"

"One fatality, six casualties with moderate to severe injuries" reported Tuvok. "One of our crewmen was hit by an overloading conduit, and several others were caught in the blast."

"No fatalities, three casualties with moderate injuries" came back Worf's voice.

"We have the yard" reported Proudmoore on a fleetwide channel. "We cannot jump to hyperspace with other vessels inside our shield bubble, but we can provide very literal cover while other ships hyper out."

 _Redemption_ and her attendant ships reversed position, putting the dreadnaught's batteries in view of the Borg once more. Two tactical cubes were destroyed by this point, but the remaining four realized if they attacked from behind the Super Star Destroyer would have difficulty getting rid of them. To compensate, tactical put most shields aft and ran up the hyperdrive.

"Overall, not a complete loss" noted Captain Picard as the fleet sped away. "We secured one shipyard and lost nine ships."

"Four were intentional" reminded Proudmoore.

"We have a long way to go if we want to do more than survive. But somehow, some way… I think we'll come through."


	37. It's a Trap

**Chapter 37 – It's a Trap**

HYPERSPACE INHIBITING FIELD HAS DISAPPATED. ENGAGE HYPERDRIVE.

The Borg assault force at Deep Space 9 made it to within 7,500 kilometers of the station before encountering gravity wells once again.

"These Borg are going to hit us like a Romulan ale hangover once they actually get here" announced Commander Kira. "Divert all available power to turbolasers and shields."

The heaviest guns could accurately reach beyond 10,000 kilometers—these had been pulled from _Redemption_. The rest of the station's turbolasers had varying engagement limits between 5,000 and 7,500 kilometers. Still, these numbers represented optimal ranges, which meant even standard turbolasers could, in theory, hit a slow-moving, 3-kilometer-per-side object beyond their stated distance limit.

One tactical cube flared as its Omega-powered reactor tried in vain to keep up with a withering barrage of fire emanating from Deep Space 9.

"Focusing all weapons on one target" said O'Brien.

Not every turbolaser could hit the target at once—that was just the nature of mounting weapons on a ring-shaped structure. Enough of them had fire arcs, however, to slag the cube within a few minutes.

ION FIRE DETECTED. ACTIVATE ADAPTATION.

"Damn it!" O'Brien disabled several smaller probes deployed from the fusion cube, but several screening tactical vessels ignored blue blasts and kept coming.

Nog didn't want to add to the cacophony, but felt Romulan warbirds decloaking merited interruption.

"You're not going to like this…"

"How long until the fleet gets here?" demanded Kira.

"Four minutes, sir" replied O'Brien.

Visual showed these newly-appeared warbirds using thalaron devices on the Borg frustrating O'Brien's ion fire.

"The Borg vessels are losing power, and shutting down" reported the Senior Chief Petty Officer.

"What about the fusion cube?"

Between warbird fire and turbolasers, the fusion cube took quite a beating.

"I'm reading power fluctuations in its Omega containment field" warned O'Brien. "It might be best to let this one go, unless you want to risk detonating Omega molecules…"

"Then cease fire."

The fusion cube fled, leaving thalaron-irradiated escorts drifting.

"Shrink the interdiction field" commanded Kira.

The fleet barreled toward DS9, yanked out only a hundred kilometers away.

"That wasn't the plan!" spluttered Proudmoore. "We were suppo…" His words stalled upon recognition of Borg debris thousands of kilometers out, and Romulan warbirds flanking the station.

He found the path from his office blocked by two Romulans.

"How many yards did you secure?" asked Donatra.

"You were watching this whole time" blustered the Admiral. "Or were you not paying attention?"

" _How many yards?_ " demanded Praetor Hiren.

"Just one. Why do you insist I tell you things you already know?"

"It's what you don't know" answered Hiren. "Given that the galaxy we know has ended, I have decided that sharing these bits of information with you will not endanger a Romulan Empire that may no longer exist. Upon receipt of a verified order, the Shadow Protocol is initiated. This means all Romulan ships cloak and await further orders."

"So when I said I could not raise Romulus, I was telling the truth. The Praetor's inability to raise the fleet was likewise intentional. It was not the best time to make use of limited assets."

Proudmoore convened the War Council, mostly over comm since his desire to speak with others was immediate.

"To put things simply, our Romulan friends have been holding out on us" he accused. "Not only do they have ships, they also have intelligence that suggests the mission to Qo'noS was unnecessary!"

Screens switched to displaying a map of likely former Dominion territory in the Gamma Quadrant with many green dots representing starship production facilities.

Kilana spoke up, grateful to feel useful for the first time since she and Odo fled the Gamma Quadrant.

"I can confirm most of this data" she said. "The Dominion spread its shipyards across many systems. It let us build larger fleets more quickly, and mitigated our slower warp drives by having greater numbers of ships per unit of territory."

Left unsaid: it made keeping subjects in line easier. Now, it would work as an advantage, assuming the Borg hadn't assimilated or destroyed these facilities.

"I do not understand why the Borg would not simply destroy these shipyards" said a confused Seven of Nine after analyzing data returned by a New Republic scout squadron. "The Borg assimilate all beneficial technology and destroy everything else to prevent enemies from using it."

"Perhaps our understanding of the Borg is incomplete" suggested Tuvok. "We have always assumed they operate under a single goal of perfection, but what we do not know is how the species plans to reach it. Based on our data, it is possible the Borg Queen may simply have not felt it necessary to destroy assets she believed no other forces would ever be able to reach, in case the Collective found a use for them."

"It almost sounds like she has become arrogant. Overconfident." Janeway found this prospect interesting, if only because the Borg had insisted individuality and emotions were weaknesses, yet their leader seemed to manifest these very things.

"The Queen attempted to use emotional appeals to sway me to her side" added Data. "I believe it is possible for the Queen to experience emotions, though other drones are not permitted this level of individuality."

"What matters is that this works to our benefit!" concluded Captain Janeway. "Voyager will take crews to several of these yards using our hyperdrive, as will many New Republic vessels."

"About what Petty Officer O'Brien said earlier? About stopping shooting at a Borg fusion cube? I don't like it! We shouldn't let them get away!"

"Do you have a better idea, Lieutenant Torres?" She now proudly wore the pips of a full Lieutenant, having been promoted along with Ensign-to-Lieutenant Harry Kim (for exceptional service beyond the call of duty), and stood straight to answer her captain's question.

"Well, I would if someone approved an away mission to one of those cubes. Thalaron radiation decays rapidly enough environmental suits would protect us, and while the drones are dead the ship is probably still mostly functional."

"You and Seven can lead a team after this meeting is finished."

B'Elanna's lip curled slightly. She disdained Seven of Nine's pompous attitude, but understood the logic of having a former drone accompany the team on a mission to a Borg cube and thus said nothing.

Realizing she had something else to add, Torres spoke up again.

"I think we've figured out a way to speed up replication of that crystal structure for turbolasers, but it needs a lot of energy to do it. I think the station could handle it without compromising on defenses."

"Send your data to me and I'll get started while you poke around the cubes" replied O'Brien. He followed this with a determined nod between engineers.

"Once we capture these yards, we need to put them to use!" proclaimed Proudmoore. "How fast do ships get built around here?"

"Sisko told me ISS Defiant was built in less than a year" offered O'Brien. "If building a ship under the guns of an oppressive alliance orbiting one of their planets isn't fast, I don't know what is."

"I'll see if the Borg have any secrets to cough up in that area" added B'Elanna. "I mean, that regeneration has to come from something, right?"

"You are forgetting that unless someone has been working on a computer system capable of running a starship without anyone at this table knowing, we will still need personnel to operate these vessels" said Tuvok. "An Emergency Command Hologram is not a substitute for an entire crew."

"Also, our holoemitters, uh, they don't do that" said Proudmoore sheepishly. "They're just light, not these forcefields you speak of."

Janeway put up her hands.

"This is starting to sound like a grown-up version of the science fair, which is all well and good, but we all don't need to be here."


	38. Top Science

**Chapter 38 – Top Science**

Sela, liberated from Federation prison, returned to overseeing the savior of the galaxy: Plague MkIII. The latest design goal revolved around making its impact more immediate—if being attacked by drones, nobody wanted to wait hours for them to drop dead. Unfortunately, the Vidiians and her current cadre hit a wall, unable to speed up the process without triggering an overwhelming "immune" response from Borg nanoprobes that, while not always successful in defeating the infection reduced the fatality rate to less than 50% in small-scale tests. Too many survivors risked adaptations surviving in the Collective, making future applications pointless.

A potential solution literally appeared from nowhere.

"IRW Telbostius hailing unrecognized vessel with Romulan IFF."

Sela realized that unexpected allies might materialize due to the apparent end of Shadow Protocol.

"As you can see" she explained to this new arrival, "we are not Federation, though we did work with their Section 31 out of a desire to ensure the continuation of non-Borg life in this galaxy…"

Aboard _Prometheus_ ("A most impressive vessel, even for Starfleet!") Sela learned of a spreading belief among warbird captains that leadership had failed the Romulan people.

"Shadow Protocol was terminated, yet, no commands have been issued!" complained Ijium, commander of _Telbostius_. "The Protocol was to end with the threat, but the Borg remain. First they allow the irradiation of Remus to go unpunished, and now this!"

Sela detailed her work with the Vidiians in response. She also expounded upon her ship's faster-than-light drive.

"So that is what we've been seeing!" cried Iijium. "Several warbirds have reported observing a strange, high-energy phenomenon that matched nothing in the Tal Shiar databases."

"This New Republic has been sending its ships around, looking for intelligence on the Borg" Sela replied. "Though, I suspect their sensors are not tuned to penetrate our cloaking devices."

"The Tal Shiar has been working with Borg technology" offered Iijium. "We may be able to assist in your biogenic weapon development."

The shady intelligence groups were hardly the only ones working on advancing their science. B'Elanna Torres led fully-suited teams aboard an irradiated Borg tactical cube. The thalaron had dissipated to almost undetectable levels, but nobody wanted to take chances.

"This is the closest look anyone will have gotten at Borg technology since the Raven!" she'd said, before realizing Seven of Nine was also standing right next to her, resulting in a look of embarrassment from the half-Klingon engineer. The former drone, however, did not react. Instead, she pre-emptively commented on another source of worry for the team.

"This vessel has not sustained critical damage despite the death of all drones. Therefore, the ship will not self-destruct. However, I advise you proceed with caution, as the Collective has assimilated and adapted New Republic technology."

"The last time we were poking around one of these, we'd be after the transwarp coils like Klingons to _gagh_. This time, I could not care less!" Torres held her tricorder up to a power conduit, still "hot" with Omega residue.

"The death of all drones has placed this vessel in a low-power state, so it can conserve its energy for eventual recovery by the Collective" observed Seven. "Given the gravity field emitted by Deep Space 9, any such efforts will be delayed significantly."

Upon reaching the cube's core, Seven of Nine connected an assimilation tubule to download information from a nearby console. Lights, even dimmer than the usual atmosphere aboard Borg ships, snapped back on.

"This vessel has recognized me as a drone and power is being restored. The primary control systems are awaiting instructions."

"So that means we can poke around anywhere?" asked B'Elanna enthusiastically.

"That would be unwise without precautions. The central plexus and vinculum are reactivating."

"So the cube is calling home, huh?"

"That is correct."

"With the gravity well, even if they did pick up on any signals, they couldn't just appear. I wonder… Torres to Commander Kira!"

"Kira here."

"Can you make that interdiction field bigger?"

The Bajoran took on a quizzical look unseen by the away team. "The field already has a seven billion kilometer radius. Why do you need more?"

Additional energy, subject to diminishing returns and heat issues, pushed the field out to around nine billion kilometers. That would buy at least a day before Borg vessels could arrive.

"I believe I have convinced the cube no further attempts to contact the Collective are necessary and that the Borg are back in control of this vessel. In order to continue this deception, I will assist in interfacing with critical systems that could enter an inaccessible state should the central plexus believe non-Borg are attempting to break in."

"Can we look at the reactor now?"

Seven was reminded of Naomi Wildman's attitude toward Harry Kim's clarinet lessons, or anything else that let her stay up "late."

Conclusions from hours spent studying an "Omega annihilation chamber" suggested the process could be interrupted safely. Application of a concentrated inverse harmonic resonance field or sufficiently strong gravimetric shear would tear Omega molecules apart harmlessly, leaving the target ship without power. Such an attack would have to be sudden and complete—if only a portion of the molecules were rendered inert the reactor's containment field would be unable to prevent the rest from causing a runaway reaction since the energy generated was also what kept the molecules contained. All molecules had to be disabled within a span of 47 milliseconds.

A discovery of Borg maturation chambers aboard the cube (dubbed "T1") led to the completion of a breakthrough on turbolaser crystal structures. Previous work revolved around cultivating semi-organic material found in the Crystalline Entity. Initial growth attempts failed, but while later work succeeded the resulting crystals were too small. Trying to create larger volumes caused micro-fractures that made them useless. Using Borg technology, crystals of greater size became possible.

"And we still don't know how we are going to crew all these ships" sighed Torres. "We can only lean on the Bajorans so much."

"Your medical capabilities were sufficient to sever my connection to the Collective and remove the majority of my Borg implants without harm to the human physiology underneath. Given the situation, perhaps we should consider means to return more drones to their original configurations."

Only Seven of Nine would refer to de-assimilating people as "returning them to their original configurations."

"Well, I finally get to do something other than babysit" said the Doctor upon being informed of this suggestion. "The inoculation I created was temporary—nanoprobes would eventually defeat it. What you're asking for, I'm not sure I can give you."

"Because it's a weapon?" questioned Janeway.

"The problems with this therapy are scientific!" protested the Doctor. "It is no more in violation of my ethical subroutines that it would be to create a nanovirus that destroys cancer cells."

"Get started!" Janeway returned to another War Council meeting, wherein she shared the Doctor's initial prognosis.

"With a population of 4.7 billion, there are, on paper, enough Bajorans to crew a large number of ships, assuming we can construct them in time" explained Commander Kira. "However, many of these people are not suited for duty aboard a starship—I see what I used to be in many of the young. Hotheaded, impulsive, violent… And I do not think anyone would press their elders into military service."

"If the Doctor's plan works, we'll have more crew than we need. I've asked Tuvok and Worf to collaborate with _Redemption_ 's tactical on designing high-yield devices to deliver the Doctor's anti-nanoprobe serum assuming it works."

Seven of Nine delivered another timely pronouncement.

"It is curious to me why the Borg have left us alone. Based on available intelligence, the Collective controls most of the known galaxy, yet we remain unassimilated. I believe it is because either we are not seen as a threat despite our technological superiority, or that very same technological superiority eludes adaptation. In both cases, the Borg's numerical advantage would likely allow them to overrun us regardless. I can only conclude the Queen's logic is being overruled by emotions."

"Everything you've told us about the Borg has been the opposite!" protested Proudmoore. "Why wou…"

An idea hit him like a Star Dreadnaught dropping out of hyperspace, and it was an absolutely terrifying one.

"We've seen the Borg use the Force before. The destruction of the USS Yeager was the start. Nobody knows how they got it, only that once they assimilated a Jedi Guardian Force-wielding drones began to appear. It's not something I've wanted to talk about, but now how can we not? I propose that the Borg Queen has fallen under the influence of the Dark Side."

Such a proclamation required some explanation as the Force had only been discussed in limited circles. Once Proudmoore finished, fear in the room became quite palpable.

"In conclusion, a species that has used fear and intimidation to advance itself, whether it did so on purpose or not, has gotten its hands on a power it cannot fully comprehend, but is very willing to use. Our situation may be more dire than we thought."


	39. Imperial March

**Chapter 39 – Imperial March**

"While my ethical subroutines did not object to creating this cure, I most heartily object to its use now that I see what its results are."

Chakotay hadn't been this disturbed by a holoprogram since B'Elanna's battle with depression led her to create a simulation of their Maquis friends dying over and over again. They'd muted all audio except for the Doctor's upon arrival since trying to discuss developments over screams of (virtual) pain wasn't productive. Janeway also turned off the blood.

"I'm getting a serious case of déjà vu" she said, turning to the rest of the staff accompanying her. "It's the Borg alliance all over again!"

"If you call this barbarianism a cure for being Borg, I won't stop you" sniffed the Doctor. "Here is what it does. Excuse me while I delete my memories of the last week." True to his word, the Doctor vanished.

Denara Pel, still in her HRD body but less distracted by it given a huge project to work on, continued where the Doctor left off.

"I… I appreciate his concerns, but the stakes are simply too high. Vidiians have suffered for decades, yet we endure. If this will free people from their assimilation, we should use it!"

Visitors were shocked to see an assimilated "B'Elanna" on a table, noticeably less scarred or messy than the humans moaning in other "rooms."

"Klingon physiology, even in this case, is more robust than that of humans" continued Pel. "Thus, when the inflammation-rejection sequence begins, its effects are less severe."

A bitterly-divided War Council opted to authorize "experimental" usage of "Unassimilator" on Qo'noS should an attack ever be mounted there. Martok favored the solution without reservation, arguing it be better for Klingons to die fighting (even in pain) than to live as drones.

"But now" he continued, "we must hear reports from the rest of our war-making apparatus. What of the Vekah yard, or these turbo-laser weapons?"

Proudmoore balled his unseen fists under the table. These people could not pronounce "turbolasers" for the life of them—always acting as if it were two words, hyphenated, or similar.

"Well, I wouldn't say those are the biggest issues." B'Elanna Torres spoke as she, Tuvok, Miles O'Brien, and Geordi LaForge pushed, pulled, and shoved a large model of something to the front of the room.

"It's a wonder any of our ships are still running" whispered Janeway to Picard. "What with our engineers tied up with this… I don't even know what this is."

"This is the grand finale!" Torres took some cues from her husband on presentation prior to this, running the speech several times for him and other assorted audience (some more willing than others). "The final lap! The finish line!"

"I see those public speaking classes Tom put her through are paying off" commented Chakotay.

"Class? I think it was an excuse to get away from everyone" replied Janeway, smiling. "They haven't had much time for each other or to be parents since this whole mess started!"

The Doctor's daily logs contained discussion of being a glorified babysitter when not on duty, something he found intriguing but "if I were to have children like myself, I'd tone down the vomiting, at least." Denara Pel also found little Miral a solid distraction from her status as a weapon of war.

"We call it the Biaxilated Omega Neutralizing Device. BOND for short. Since either everyone here already knows about Omega molecules or is about to, I think we can throw the Omega Directive right out the airlock!"

"Is it just me, or did she sound entirely too happy about that?"

Janeway had to agree with her first officer, but didn't say anything, nodding instead.

"Omega molecules damage subspace, rendering warp travel impossible. They also produce a lot of energy—which is why the Borg use them to power their ships. They have actually figured out a way to annihilate them, harnessing their power similarly to a matter-antimatter warp core. This device neutralizes the molecules, halting the reaction and leaving any vessel caught in its beam without power. Basically, we're drilling holes in their gas tanks."

"I win the bet! Harry wouldn't believe me when I told him Tom would eventually convince B'Elanna to get more involved in his obsession with ancient cars. Thing is, it's just a dirtier, less advanced form of engineering—she took right to it once she warmed up on it!"

Chakotay grinned at this revelation.

Another debate broke out, this time over whether to test BOND and the Unassimilator or simply use them as a surprise at Qo'noS.

"Weren't you all the ones telling me how if the Borg adapt, we're flying out of the black hole and into the supernova?" demanded Proudmoore. "I say we storm Qo'noS once we've built up enough ships. Forget testing! We're not showing our hand until we have a full sabacc! Or an idiot's array, that works too."

This development stopped arguments in their tracks, with thoughts along the lines of _If that guy we mocked for underestimating the Borg learned from his mistake and is saying we should just go for it, maybe we should do exactly that._

Shocked at the sudden quiet, it took Proudmoore a few seconds to react, but after that he immediately took command.

"Well, if you're all done arguing, here's what I say we ought to do. We can't wait around here forever. We have limited resources in every way, need maximum firepower from as few ships as possible, but also cannot afford to support large ships like mine."

No disagreement, in fact, heads nodded.

"I propose we hit the Borg with an enemy they've never faced before."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" replied a quizzical Jean-Luc Picard.

"We're going to hit them with the Empire."

The most well-known anthem of the Galactic Empire blasted uncomfortably loudly out of all speakers in the War Council chambers as lights dimmed. Images flashed quickly—some kind of small ships in huge numbers swarming presumably enemy installations. Dagger-shaped Star Destroyers blasting planets to slag. Faceless Stormtroopers marching, then mowing down all resistance. Burning cities trampled under the legs of AT-AT walkers. Massive military parades. And the coup de grace, footage of Alderaan being obliterated by the Death Star's superlaser.

"That is preposterous!" proclaimed Captain Picard. "You can't possibly expect us to…"

"Captain Janeway said it herself. You" (he pointed at his own rank insignia) "are much, _much_ better at making war than this galaxy" (he gestured around the room) "ever was. I freely admit I made a bad call about the Borg. I was arrogant and assumed my superior technology would carry the day no matter where I was. I was wrong. I dismissed you as weaklings, only respecting Janeway because, as she put it, she survived a 70,000 light-year obstacle course."

He paused.

"Are you going to make the same mistake? Dismissing my views because you think me a warmonger from a civilization that by your standards knows nothing but conflict? Assume that you can win this on morals and uplifting speeches instead of hitting out with brutal, unapologetic force? Because last I checked, _we're the last outpost of unassimilated life in this entire galaxy._ "

"It is not something I would generally say in polite company" growled Martok, "You Federation types have many soldiers. Not so many _warriors_. I like the sound of this Galactic Empire!"

Sour looks from many Federation around the table.

"Are you calling us cowards, Chancellor?" asked Picard. His tone was not friendly.

"You are people who try their hardest to avoid a fight when there is already a _bat'leth_ at your throat and your spine is on the deck. There are times for diplomacy. And there are times to rip that _bat'leth_ from your enemy's hands, and spill his guts on his own feet!"

Oviha Tupa oversaw crews working on Vekah 1 as Deep Space 9 turned into a frenzied hub of activity.

"If we want to hit the Borg with vast numbers of attack vessels in the style of the Galactic Empire, I suggest we start with the one ship your Federation designed for combat. This facility can produce one Negh'Var class warship at a time. Given the size of your Defiant-type, I anticipate the same yard could build five simultaneously."

"Let me get this straight" said Janeway. "You're saying we're going to build mass-produced warships?"

"Unless you want to be turned into a drone?" Tupa glared at the assembled Starfleet officers.

"I've said it before—I'm sick of turning tail every time we see a cube! This may not be protocol, but it's a hell of a lot better than any other ideas we've seen so far."

She didn't have to say anything about the "Plague" directly; everyone knew it was either a fleet of battleships or barrages of biogenic torpedoes. Even the Romulans preferred the former.

"I for one am not comfortable commanding a warship" began Jean-Luc. "But as Starfleet officers, we don't always get the luxury of the most convenient circumstances. Recognizing that this situation cannot be solved diplomatically, and indeed is outside the parameters Starfleet usually operates in requires that we do as Admiral Proudmoore suggests. We are going to war."

"The Utopia Planetia yards were able to construct whole Galaxy-class ships on the Martian surface" explained Kathryn Janeway. "With modifications, I suspect we could do the same on Bajor. It would also alleviate us from having to mount expeditions into Dominion space, saving us time and resources."

"See what you can come up with" replied Tupa. "Our ships are usually so large as to be constructed in zero gravity, but it appears given the size of the vessel you referenced that your society may have us beat on that front."

Proudmoore issued orders to strip every support ship of its hypermatter reactor and hyperdrive core if it hadn't already been pulled apart as a hyper-sled. "With full fueling this time" he added. "Not like those one-jump hyper-batteries we created before; they need to be able to jump in and fight on hypermatter power!"

"These Defiants pack a nasty punch for their size—why didn't you build more?"

Senior Chief Petty Officer O'Brien rolled his eyes before handing over a PADD with the "47 key flaws" in the _Defiant_ , including the tendency of the original design to shake apart at operating speeds.

"Never mind Starfleet's stated goals of exploration, not annihilation" he added.

A new organization, dubbed the "Combined Galactic Alliance" emerged from Starfleet, Klingon Defense Forces, Romulan non-intelligence forces (the Tal Shiar went its own way), and whatever else could be scraped up. In line with this now-officially-militarized group, modifications to the _Defiant_ were dubbed the _Avenger_ -subtype. All were equipped with a phaser and assault concussion missile launchers. Three variants of main armament existed. The most common carried dual heavy turbolaser cannons, packing the maneuverability of the original design and the firepower of Star Dreadnaught-class weaponry into one ship. The second most numerous mounted a single ion cannon on the port side, modified from the planetary defense mainstay v-150 for space duty. Energy requirements were so high a pair couldn't be done feasibly. The last version was only created "because these aren't Starfleet ships." Donatra and Hiren sneered at Starfleet's refusal to arm up with thalaron weapons, which meant anyone-except-Starfleet crewed/commanded the rarest subtype (quad thalaron projectors as main guns).

"Your crew requirements are much smaller" said Proudmoore at a War Council meeting. "Eighty people to run this ship, and the additional thirty are due to complications from my galaxy's technology. Impressive!"

Five of these extra people were required to operate an Advanced Format Replicator capable of producing assault concussion missile warheads on-the-fly (though energy drain was an issue, especially on the "blue" ion-toting ships).

Despite a mostly-standardized design, some aspects of each ship were customized out of necessity. For instance, hypermatter cores and hyperdrives had been pulled from all sorts of different craft embarked in the gargantuan hangers of _Redemption_ , leading to various speeds and endurance ratings. Some turbolasers were repurposed from the Star Dreadnaught or its support ships while others used newly-ready methods developed by B'Elanna Torres, Seven of Nine, and their teams. These "native" turbolasers generally matched the power output of New Republic equivalents but had more issues dissipating heat, cutting down on rate of fire. Since _Compass_ and _Orienteer_ were useless hulks, their armor found new homes aboard some _Avengers_. Ultra-sturdy plating capable of resisting smaller Star Dreadnaughts in a ship fractions of their size covered the hulls of many newly-built warships. Only some received the new BOND device due to limited quantities. All were loaded with the controversial Unassimilator, however.

"Your use of this advanced ablative armor is inefficient" chastised Seven of Nine. "The likelihood of impact capable of defeating standard means of protection on 37% of this hull's area is statistically insignificant. This is a waste of resources and unacceptable!"

Of a total of 253 _Avengers_ constructed over the next year, 47 had "full" armor. The rest utilized a "more efficient" protection layout, substituting superthermal ablative armor (a Federation technology) for _Nebula_ -class plate where possible.


	40. Qo'noS maHchegh

**Chapter 40 - Qo'noS maHchegh**

"What the hell are they doing?" raged Sela. Intelligence relayed through a special lower subspace band from Tal Shiar deep cover agents aboard both the station and _Redemption_ indicated this "Combined Galactic Alliance" made no moves to attack the Borg in months. However, their insistence on maintaining a massive field the size of a solar system projected from Deep Space 9 that prevented both warp and hyperspace travel made gathering information more difficult. No specialized intelligence assets had been in position when the field went up, forcing Sela's group to make do with what information could be gleaned via the sensors of several _D'deridex_ already present under cloak.

And of course, it wasn't expected that Romulan ships operating without their cloaks (signifying Shadow Protocol's end) would be any help either.

"I doubt they will accept more random cases of torpedoes from another Klingon colony" reasoned Drarnus Konjah. "We will have to find another way to ensure the weapon is used."

Like their counterparts, the intelligence triumvirate proved reluctant to tip their hand against the Borg without greater assurances it would be a winning one not just for this round, but the entire game.

John Harrison was able to transmit more information—specifically about this new "Avenger"-subtype of the _Defiant_ class. Most interestingly, the vessels appeared to possess technology that permitted them to engage faster-than-light within the known range of Deep Space 9's interdiction field.

"Are you satisfied now?" snapped Kira Nerys, having personally overseen the latest test of an "overdriven" starfighter hyperdrive inside an _Avenger_. Unimatrix warp cores made up the difference where hypermatter wouldn't have supplied enough energy, but given that the only available matter-antimatter reserves were taken from Bajor most ships ran in gray mode or were docked in a powered-off state aboard _Redemption_. They would fly in separately for the assault, so as to avoid being overwhelmed while launching from the Star Dreadnaught.

"The directional interdiction field works" replied Oviha Tupa. "And I believe we have ironed out the last kinks in this design. We are ready."

"Must be a sensor glitch" insisted operations aboard one of the spying warbirds. "No way hundreds of ships just wen…"

"You idiot! Even the big one is gone!"

Deep Space 9 hung alone short of the wormhole.

"Can we engage warp drive?"

"The field is still up. As to how _those_ ships got out of here, I have no idea!"

Hand-picked crews from the ships taking refuge at DS9 operated each _Avenger_. Since the whole fleet moved at the speed of its slowest member, the journey from Bajor to Qo'noS took longer than usual, but not appreciably so since hyperdrives still offered much-improved speed over conventional warp.

Proudmoore smiled while sitting in his ready room. Tupa reported success installing several of the very gravity-well-like devices pioneered by Vidiians looking to harvest organs aboard his flagship. No time to test them—Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres absolutely assured him they would work—but once he arrived at Qo'noS he would flip the field on to drag his support out of hyperspace.

"In position" reported helm. "We are twenty seconds ahead of the fleet."

"Gravity devices charged" added tactical. "We can enable them instantly upon reversion."

"If the Klingons are as tough as they've boasted, we ought to find some help here" he muttered.

 _Admiral's Log, Stardate 57400.2: I can't believe I'm doing these. I greatly underestimated the grit and determination of the people who live here. Apparently, even the Federation types will scamper like a gundark is chasing them if you hold their feet to the furnace. They just don't habitually make war on each other, and their slow FTL limits any desires toward that end anyway. Our assault fleet is traveling at approximately hyperdrive class-4 to avoid blowing out the more overstressed units. A fighter hyperdrive pushing the equivalent of a large corvette. Never thought I'd see the day…_

Arriving at the target planet, tactical quickly analyzed their situation. With only 66% of weapons functional of the initial half that were normally an _Executor_ 's loadout to begin with, the ship's combat effectiveness suffered greatly. However, its shields were as stout as ever, capable of absorbing massive amounts of energy and thus soaking fire away from other ships.

"Gravity generators online."

 _Avengers_ began to appear fifteen seconds later. Timing wasn't perfect, but it was close enough.

Operations patched through to USS _Voyager_ , whose sensors had been dubbed the best for determining the status of the planet.

"Billions of lifeforms" reported Lieutenant Harry Kim. "Most Borg, but there are still a few pockets of Klingon resistance. I don't even want to think about what's happened to Earth…"

"The failure of the Borg to completely assimilate this world again suggests the Queen is operating irrationally" said Seven of Nine on a fleet channel. "There is no logical explanation for leaving beings unassimilated. However, we should exploit this flaw."

"Four tactical cubes and seven standard cubes are moving to intercept us" warned Tuvok. "Team One, begin attack, pattern Delta-Three."

A roar emanated throughout Team One's channel. Many crew were selected by Commander Kira from Bajoran crew aboard Deep Space 9 and those who distinguished themselves during the "Great Construction" stretching a little more than a year prior to this invasion. In particular, Neela's Redemption Through Righteousness group stood out even among an already-exemplary group. If they had anything to prove, they'd done so multiple times over! The Bajorans tried, and tried, and tried to use "Kai" as their callsign—Commander Kira, Worf, and even Jean-Luc Picard advocated strenuously for this change. However, it was not to be.

The 24 vessels of Team One swept in following a three-pronged corkscrew combined with fourth group traveling in a straight line down the "screw's" center. This constant rotation of ships offset reduced fire rates from "turbophasers" (whose technical name reached such lengths even one of its prime inventors, B'Elanna Torres, used the shorthand instead; besides, it was better than "native turbolaser") by creating a whirlwind of blasts.

The first cube went up in an anti-climactically-small explosion as green BOND rays intersected it from several angles before turbophaser fire tore into it, followed by vicious clouds of assault concussion missiles. Most of the detonation actually came from ordinance poured in, not the target's reactor systems.

"Team One successfully utilized the Biaxilated Omega Neutralizing Device" announced Seven of Nine. "The cube was destroyed without damaging subspace before its systems could adapt."

"It's just BOND" said Torres later. "B-O-N-D. The name's such a mouthful over comm channels…"

The second and third cubes fell just as easily, but their tactical cube companion resisted.

"That cube's shields have adapted to absorb enough of the BOND beam to prevent both a shutdown and a runaway cascade" announced Worf. He respected his Captain's disdain for unconventional weaponry, but saw no reason not to make use of it especially considering it was not mounted on the _Enterprise-E_. Team Two thus possessed several _Avengers_ with thalaron cannons.

"Blue Avengers, move in!" he growled.

Unlike most versions of the weapon, repurposed v-150 cannons fired yellowish bolts of energy despite the "blue" codename. The effect mirrored that of smaller ion weapons, however, leaving the target drifting in space. Only a single BOND blast was required to nullify the tactical cube's Omega fuel, after which Team Two swooped in with their New Republic turbolasers to finish it off.

Another cube fell to the combo, before a second tactical vessel deployed protective measures.

IONIC WEAPONS DETECTED. ACTIVATE ADAPTATION.

"Green Avengers!" barked Worf. "Adapt _this_ " he muttered.

Quad thalaron pulses from each attacker targeted ionic condensing chambers that made the cube neigh-invulnerable to being disabled by ion cannons. Radiation buildup became exponential as the very feature intended to protect against one weapon enhanced the effectiveness of another.

"In this situation, the cube will enter a limited self-defense mode once all drones aboard are dead" explained Seven. "It will attempt to protect itself from boarding and destruction, but will retreat otherwise."

"Well, we're not about to give it that chance, are we?" asked Janeway somewhat rhetorically. "Assault concussion missiles and proton torpedoes, fire full spread!"

"Redemption to the fleet. We are preparing to land ground forces. Protect the Y-85 Titans as they convey our security walkers to the surface!"

Over a storm of protests, Chancellor Martok accompanied the first division of AT-AT walkers down to Qo'noS.

"They must know that I have returned. They must know that I will restore the Empire's glory!" he'd said upon being questioned.

"Today may be a good day to die, but we would strongly prefer it not be _your_ day" insisted Jean-Luc Picard over comm.

As barges departed _Redemption_ , proximity alarms lit up. Fifteen tactical fusion cubes emerged from the rubble of Praxis, aiming both for dropships and their host.

"Sir, we're going to have to shut down the gravity wells! Their blasts are far more powerful than anything we've seen previously—we need more energy for shields."

"The gravity wells aren't doing any good anyway" replied Admiral Proudmoore. "The Borg are already here!"

Sela grinned maniacally. Apparently, when these anti-lightspeed fields shut down, they shrank into nothing. Having tracked the fleet from DS9 to Qo'noS, she would exploit this procedure to essentially hyper into Qo'noS' atmosphere as the fields dissipated.

"Engage our cloak. It won't hide our exit, but once we revert they will have a difficult time finding us."

"Captain!"

"Yes Mr. Kim?"

"I just saw a huge energy surge of some kind in the planet's atmosphere. Not sure what caused it—it wasn't a Borg weapon or one of our ships."

"Any traces?"

"None, Captain. It just…appeared and disappeared!"

Sela's tactical officer fired Plague MkIII torpedoes at the largest continent on Qo'nos. This also happened to be the site of most remaining Klingon resistance. Such detonations did not go unnoticed from Proudmoore's orbiting fleet, though exactly what _caused_ them remained up for debate.

"I suppose this is a good time to use that Crystal Gravitational Trap we brought…"

Several passes revealed a small fluctuation that "might" be a ship, then again it was equally likely to be an "aberration" due to shifts in planetary mass.

"Send it to Voyager" ordered Proudmoore. "Their ability to discern data from weirdness is unparalleled. I also find it highly unusual that large detonations caused a blue alert aboard our vessels, but it's not the Unassimilator. It's a further-refined version of the Plague we thought we stopped!"

"Analysis complete. I believe a starship is indeed present in the planet's atmosphere, but it is using a form of stealth technology our sensors cannot reliably distinguish from background radiation." Seven forwarded her findings to _Voyager_ 's operations and counterparts aboard _Redemption_ for dissemination throughout the fleet.

"I'd say it's as well to let it go" suggested Proudmoore. "We really ought…"

"In case you hadn't noticed" replied Janeway, her tone icy, "whatever that is deployed biogenic weapons on the planet's surface. Ignoring it hardly seems like a sound strategy!"

More explosions and more Plague traces accentuated the point, after which Sela's ship hypered out again.

"There it is!" called out Kim. "The same pattern!"

"Once we arrive at the shipyards Reed has been running in the Gamma Quadrant, we will have enough firepower to cleanse this planet" hissed Sela.


	41. Beachhead

**Chapter 41 – Beachhead**

"Deploying AT-DS…"

Why these walkers received the name "All-Terrain" when the list of things that could trip them (primitive log rolls, cables, slightly uneven rocks, sand…) consisted of extremely common hazards remained a mystery. But that's what it was called, the All-Terrain Deflector Shield, an AT-AT stripped of weapons and some armor to make way for a high-capacity battalion shield.

The first Y-85 to hit Qo'noS carried a pair of these along with two standard walkers.

Proudmoore openly wondered "where the surface-to-space fire is; they're just letting us land troops with zero resistance!"

"I'd recommend not asking that question, Admiral" replied Captain Janeway as two Titan dropships disintegrated. "We can't keep _all_ the probes off your barges!"

"Fine" he huffed. "They play rough, we play rough too!"

Three fighters not recognized by any database (even those aboard _Redemption_ ) swung into action. A few fighter pilots had heard of or seen such craft during their tours with the Rebellion, and the very presence of these ships made the best A-wing pilots turn tail. If the Empire manufactured more of these and fewer disposable TIE Fighters, the war would have ended much more quickly in the Emperor's favor. The Imperial government had no problem spending 10,196,900,000 credits on an _Executor_ but balked at a "pricey" fighter.

Alas, the Rebellion did not end up facing wings of Missile Boats with their ludicrous armament capacities. If loaded with concussion missiles, each could carry _eighty_ , enough firepower to destroy forty average Rebellion or pirate fighters with warheads alone. After defeating Zaarin, Palpatine personally ordered Missile Boats mothballed or destroyed out of fear, driven mainly by the fact that the Rebels came extremely close to capturing one of the craft. With its advanced miniaturization of projectile delivery systems, a B-wing fighter would possess the ability to destroy capital ships by itself while maintaining a respectable non-missile armament.

The ability to fire off more missiles than Borg probes could possibly regenerate against made it easier to distract said probes from attacking inbound dropships. Ultimately, establishing a forward operating base only took a few hours.

"You have found the largest camp" growled a scarred warrior toting a _bat'leth_. "The Borg are content to ignore us—the ultimate insult!"

Surveillance video of a Klingon running unarmed straight at patrolling drones before being pushed aside like a tree branch flummoxed everyone until Proudmoore saw it.

"The Dark Side of the Force is not something to be taken lightly" he lectured. "It allowed a malevolent individual with plans for galactic domination to play the entire government like a fiddle under the noses of Jedi who were supposed to know better!"

"How do we defeat it?" demanded Martok.

Proudmoore smiled, an oddity until he explained exactly why.

"It often defeats _itself_. Corrupted by power, corroded by hatred, consumed by anger—wielders of the Dark Side carry great power but burn quickly. Some are destroyed by the very powers they use against anyone who opposes them. Others become complacent, convinced nothing could _possibly_ stand against their UNLIMITED POWER. Then, someone does exactly that and foils their plans."

"You are suggesting that the Borg Queen has fallen under the influence of abilities that simultaneously make her more and less dangerous." Seven of Nine found this illogical, but from what she'd read, the Force defied any logic she'd seen.

"Assuming my understanding is correct, cut off the head and the body dies, correct?"

Seven handed over a pair of PADDs. "Simplistic, but accurate."

"What about limbs? To take the analogy further, how would she react if we started reclaiming large numbers of drones?"

For once, Seven of Nine lacked an immediate, snappy reply.

"I am not certain. In the situations where such activity occurred, she has been quite destructive, but given apparent degradations in her logic, my predictions of her behavior will likely be inaccurate."

"This feels _wrong!_ " shouted Jean-Luc Picard. In a conference of Federation officers, he watched as waves of soldiers (mostly Klingon, Bajoran, and New Republic human) set out across Qo'noS. "We are avoiding our responsibilities to conduct ourselves in a manner becoming of the Federation."

"Is there a Federation left?" asked Janeway, allowing her voice to carry a tinge of provocation. "The galaxy is destroyed, Jean-Luc! There's nothing left. I now understand how Captain Ransom felt when he was feeding those life-forms into his warp core. His whole universe was destroyed by the Caretaker's Array, so he rebuilt it in a way that he thought would get his crew home."

"You would abandon our principles?"

"This isn't a matter of mothballing the Defiant design because the Federation does not build warships" she shot back. "This is quite literally about survival. If we used the same Starfleet protocols that we've kept around for decades, we would be dead right now."

"I'm not sure what's worse" replied Picard. "That we knowingly deployed these forces with biogenic weapons, or that they seem to be enjoying using them. You also don't know that—you can't be sure that we won't find another way."

"Like you found another way to handle the Son'a?"

Picard decided not to bluster over those files theoretically being classified.

"Think of it as an Omega Directive for the entire galaxy" suggested Janeway. "Once the threat is dealt with, all the special tools go back in the box."

"I don't like thinking of these as mere 'special tools'" shot back Picard. "Restoring our moral standing after these events will represent a strenuous test of character, one I hope we measure up to."

As the first Klingons hit with the Unassimilator were brought in for medical processing, Jean-Luc Picard laid out his proposal to the War Council.

"Every month, a two-thirds vote shall be required to retain extraordinary measures we are now employing. When that vote fails to pass, we will step back from the precipice we find ourselves staring over."

A transmission from sickbay interrupted the meeting.

"This engineered virus is working exactly as we predicted" reported Dr. Bashir, though his voice betrayed more than a hint of disgust. "That does, of course, mean that not all infected with it survived."

The image cut to Klingons immersed in bacta tanks.

"At least thirty percent of those we retrieved died before medical intervention could take place" he continued. "Some within minutes of exposure, others flatlined in visual range of these…these bacta immersion devices."

The Doctor stepped into view.

"The blue alert you experienced, as you know, was due to the presence of the Plague pathogen. Analysis of it demonstrates changes to its molecular structure permitting it to be carried within torpedo casings or on specially-modified phaser beams. A significant amount will be destroyed in the process, but enough will remain to infect the target area."

Captain Janeway reflexively fidgeted with her commbadge.

"You're not thinking what I think you are" said Picard, resigned to accepting she probably was, in fact, considering it.

The War Council overwhelmingly voted to "examine" adapting Plague MkIII's robustness into the Unassimilator. Dedicating an entire science team aboard _Redemption_ to the project suggested this would go beyond mere examination.

"May our souls find forgiveness for what we are about to do" whispered Captain Picard, observing these activities.


	42. No Pain, No Gain

**Chapter 42 – No Pain, No Gain**

Sela wondered what announcement her biogenic scientists had for her today. Plague MkIII ran into a plateau—and besides, when killing Borg it worked well enough, so what could possibly merit the entire senior staff demanding a meeting?

Dengue stood in front of all others.

"You keep promising us the equivalent of paradise. Yet, you delay!" he accused. "First it was that you didn't know how many HRDs they had, which was fine. But the count you said you could get never materialized. The next month, it was that one ship versus Deep Space 9 would end badly for us, especially since it apparently sprouted even more weapons than it had before. That's not an illogical argument. Your intel aboard the Star Dreadnaught dried up. Fine. Any of these in isolation would be an acceptable explanation, but taken all together with over a year of time, we are beginning to think we toil for nothing."

One of his research assistants continued.

"There is also the matter of apparently being compromised by Section 31. I'm glad Dom Reed isn't here, because if he was, I'd bury this scalpel in his spine! Some say it was all orchestrated—so we'd see the Tal Shiar as our saviors. Not that you'd admit it even if it were true!"

"The weapon works" she hissed. "You saw it when we attacked Qo'noS!"

"Hidden behind a cloak, dropping a single volley then running before the rest of your _friends_ could spot us. This works in our interest how?"

Dengue jerked back as his assistant hit the deck, dead of a disruptor shot straight through the cranium.

 _She doesn't have a plan. She isn't going to deliver the Human Replica Droids. But apparently, pointing that out is a health hazard._

"In case you haven't noticed" said Sela, advancing menacingly, "this isn't an equal partnership. I am the one in control, you are all members of a dying species. You can either work on my schedule, or not at all."

Light-years away, one Vidiian finally rid herself of the very thing Dengue's scientists so eagerly sought for themselves. Her new body grown, Denara Pel wept with joy at seeing the result.

"Also" she said, choking back tears, "that this…this _thing_ can cry…such detail is frightening."

Jaina Raynor again oversaw a transfer of mind from one body to another.

After the procedure, she recommended Pel rest, but her "patient" refused and lacking any medical authority, she simply watched as Pel waltzed away with "Shmullus."

Chancellor Martok finally gave up. He'd tried to explain to his more reluctant allies several times why there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Unassimilator or the pain it caused.

"Fine" he huffed after his exhortations regarding the restoration of honor went unheeded. "I guess it's just one of those 'cultural differences' the Federation likes to go on about…"

The War Council did, however, unanimously vote to continue "extraordinary measures" (including the Unassimilator) though a motion to enable "limited testing" of the Plague itself was voted down.

"We are still not seen as a threat despite liberating thousands of Klingons" concluded Seven of Nine after the raiding party returned to Deep Space 9. "I surmise it is a combination of practicality and this 'Dark Side of the Force' affecting the Queen simultaneously. Though we have great fighting ability, it diminishes as our hypermatter reserves drain."

"Since our friends are so reluctant to share the secret of where hypermatter comes from, what about adapting that Omega reactor technology we just spent a huge amount of time neutralizing?" asked B'Elanna Torres. "Besides, it can't melt down on us—we just install BOND devices!"

"That could work" said Miles O'Brien. "I mean, the safety stuff is out of the way, and if you're using it on our ships you don't have to worry about getting through shields or anything—so skip the biaxilated part!"

"You have failed to consider that these reactors are insufficient" objected Seven of Nine. "Though the Collective uses them to emulate the outsider technology called hypermatter, they are a poor substitute."

Torres grinned. "Have you looked at this?" She tossed a PADD.

Seven's expression changed from neutral to shocked, a rarity, before she spoke again.

"The Collective does not think in small terms. Yet, it appears 'small' is a possible solution to this problem."

"O'Brien thought of this one" continued Torres. "He suggested we apply principles from multi-resonant singularity cores to compress and shape the Omega reaction. Density goes up, and so does the power generation!"

"We already built an eight-singularity core" continued O'Brien. "All we'd need to do is modify the housing a bit to accommodate the Omega chamber."

"If this functions, it will produce energy on an equal basis to hypermatter cores of similar size" said Oviha Tupa somewhat hesitantly. "Exponential gains may be realized by adding either more massive or larger numbers of singularities. With the risk of creating a gigantic black hole if containment fails, of course."

Given the track record of matter-antimatter warp cores having "containment issues" this pronouncement caused some hesitation, until Captain Janeway pointed out they'd already sanctioned use of biogenic weapons. "So what's a little risk with warp cores compared to that?"

Even Jean-Luc Picard confessed she had a point. Giant black-hole-powered reactors were certainly less morally repugnant than biogenic weapons!

"I suppose this is the time when we speak up on where, exactly, we can find some of this boronite these molecules require" said Odo. "The Dominion has several reserves of it, here."

"I say we take the Defiant through the wormhole, scout out these Dominion shipyards, and get back on track!"

Commander Kira seemed rather enthusiastic about the idea, given that she'd stood and practically shouted, though the fire in her ended up being carried out vicariously via the always-ready and sometimes too-eager Hands of the Prophets. Shorn of their designation as ex-criminals due to "exemplary valor on the field of battle in service of the Bajoran people" (so said Commander Kira), they now volunteered to journey through the "Fallen Temple" as it had been dubbed since the Borg defiled it.

"The _last time_ we dealt with these fanatical sorts, it ended badly!" griped Odo. "I seem to remember a bomb going off."

"You're not wrong" replied Kira, strangely smug. "But here's the thing. I know fanatics when I see them— _and this is the sort we want right now_. These are the ones who would throw themselves at a Borg cube with nothing more than rocks in their hands because they'd rather die than surrender. The kind who saves their fanaticism for the enemy. Usually follows orders. Generally works well with others. But fights harder than anyone."

"Our Klingon friends might dispute that" replied Odo. "But against an enemy like this, we need all the fury we can muster."

The Changeling might have been easily placated, but others remained unpersuaded that trusting "former terrorists" was a wise course of action.

"These people, though justified in their grievances, might revert to their old ways!" argued Jean-Luc Picard. "Do we really want to be awakening this fervor?"

Captain Janeway pushed back. "We already trusted Bajoran crews during the assault on Qo'noS! Why withdraw that now?"

"There is a difference between, frankly, random Bajorans from the planet and those who were locked away for supporting terrorism against Cardassians!"

"Your concern over the tactics to be employed is unfounded. One cannot commit 'terrorism' against the Collective" said Seven of Nine. "The psychological component is absent. Furthermore, there is no concept of civilians among the Borg—all are combatants and thus legitimate military targets."

Even Janeway flinched at Kira Nerys' vicious glee in reaction to having her tactics validated.


	43. Dibs

**Chapter 43 – Dibs**

"Today, we begin to reclaim our galaxy!" bellowed Neela, given command of the Hands of the Prophets. "Today, we do for the whole galaxy what we did for Bajor!"

Roars and whoops followed her words.

Forty-seven of the _Avenger_ cruisers would be deployed through the Fallen Temple. Worf, being well-versed in the operation of _Defiant_ , would accompany Neela aboard _Kai One_ as the fleet moved to coordinates given by Kilana where large boronite deposits existed (according to Dominion records). Seven of Nine was also present, owing to her expertise in the enemy they now faced.

"Your anger must have focus" he lectured to the bridge crew. "Rage alone does no good, but targeted anger is one hell of an anesthetic."

Dropping out of hyperspace, several Borg cubes were apparent, casting shadows on the planet below. An orbital installation connected itself to the surface with a green beam of some kind.

"Likely some kind of space elevator" explained Worf. "If these Dominion records are accurate, we will not be the only ones interested in this planet!"

Before he could give any orders, dozens of turbophaser blasts slammed into each cube. As fire began to eat into the station, he suggested a halt to the attack.

"We should find out what the Borg are doing here!" he protested.

"This installation may contain useful technology" added Seven.

A few shots splashed against the station's shields, while Worf glared at Neela, waiting for her to take control of the fleet she theoretically had command over.

"Right" she said, put out. "Stop shooting!" The Bajoran's face twisted into a sour look.

"The concerns raised by Captain Picard appear to have merit" said Seven to Worf privately. "These individuals lack harmony, cohesion, structure. Their emotions rule their actions."

Despite this, Worf and Seven reluctantly took Neela and two of her staff as an away team to the station. Hit with repeated ion fire from Blue Avengers, its systems temporarily failed, "though it appears the Borg have created further adaptations against this type of attack" observed Seven. "It remains vulnerable to thalaron radiation, however."

"This appears to be a modulated transporter beam" said Worf. "What the purpose of the structure it is firing into is, I cannot say."

"It is a refraction module" replied Seven. "It splits the beam into sub-streams that are passed along into smaller conduits. The closest analogous function would be the branching of circulatory or respiratory systems."

"Why?" Worf preferred to keep his distance from strange Borg technology.

Seven allowed a bit of (unjustified) exasperation to show through. "The transporter is tuned to only lock onto boronite. As the network of diffraction modules expands through the planet, boronite is harvested in its purest form at an extreme rate compared to other methods."

Several alarms shattered the eerie quiet.

"What is it now?" demanded Neela, bored and fidgeting as "digging through Borg space stations" wasn't anywhere near her fields of expertise.

"Several Borg vessels have appeared from behind the planet and are attacking this station. Their hulls appear to contain a sensor-scattering alloy, similar to the craft designated 'XJ3' by the New Republic. Combined with the emissions of this installation, none of our escorts detected their approach."

Neela perked up, tapping her commbadge.

"Neela to fleet, light those bastards up!"

Seven turned toward the Bajoran, her eyes narrowing. "Many of our ships were already attacking, _without orders_. Explain."

Worf snorted. "Starfleet protocol means nothing to these people. The thrill of the fight is all that matters."

Neela pointed at a viewscreen, and was bathed in green-orange glows as one tactical cube exploded, blasted by far more attacks than were necessary as each vessel seemed to want to stake a claim of getting in at least one hit. "See? See!" She practically bounced in excitement. "One cube down!"

Worf gruffly pointed out that in absence of coordination, slower-firing turbophaser-armed ships found themselves unable to avoid the retaliation of two more cubes as their weapons recycled.

"Leaning forward to strike while leaving yourself open is a sure way to taste defeat!"

"Then we'll strike until there's nothing left!"

Though several _Avengers_ were destroyed or disabled, attacking cubes fell in short order.

"Vedek Twelve, why are you breaking formation?" demanded Worf. He was through letting this Neela run an operation so haphazardly it put everyone at risk.

It wasn't just _Vedek Twelve_ ; six more ships descended toward the unnamed planet's surface instead of remaining in orbit.

"Death to the Borg!" came a response from several of these rogue vessels. Turbophasers, ion cannons, and thalaron weapons fired in unison, strafing Borg installations below. Sensors detected a series of neutrino bursts now associated with "Omega recovery protocols" utilized by the Borg to prevent subspace damage and eliminate the need to create more of the unstable particles as what were apparently Omega storage containers exploded under fire.

Both Worf (in strident tones) and Neela (reluctantly) ordered what was now _ten_ ships out of position to return to no effect.

"We will not be denied our vengeance!"

"We may not be able to stop them" said Worf sardonically, "but those five tactical fusion cubes might."

The new arrivals seemed more concerned with destroying ships screening the boronite mining installation than the dozen ships strafing below, at least at first. Until an Omega recall failed. The cubes, whose power generation, weaponry, and durability now rated them as low-level Star Dreadnaughts in the Anaxes War College System, responded by focusing their batteries downward. Of the sixteen ships operating outside orders, two exploded immediately, while the rest either went to ground or made desperate attempts to return to space.

Worf rounded on Neela.

"Do you now see the value of cohesive plans of attack?"

Her reply was nonverbal, a show of great embarrassment. Surviving _Avengers_ returned to formation. In the span of minutes, nine were completely destroyed with all hands lost. Three more were likely salvage, and six had been rendered combat-ineffective by lightning strikes from the Borg. Hyperspace transits indicated many more were streaming in, utilizing the higher-velocity FTL method to rapidly reinforce what had been a smaller fleet.

"We must depart this system before we are overwhelmed!" he barked.

Neela turned to Worf.

"Um… Sir…"

She pointed wordlessly at sensor readings showing ten ships joining the melee. A full tactical scan focused on the lead vessel and depicted a hull that blended into the darkness of space—almost as if the surface were alive. It shifted with the ship's movements, making even visual targeting extremely difficult.

Two cylinders, probably weapons, stuck out above a very square deflector. The deflector assembly itself jutted out from the top of the ship's saucer like the fin of a whale, though further forward. Two phaser strips lined each side, and the saucer's rearmost portion could be seen to have impulse engines. The usual "stardrive section" was very stubby and tucked behind the saucer, pulling two warp nacelles in so close if this new arrival were to charge straight at a target its warp engines would not be visible. Speaking of nacelles, they were half the length of the ship.

"Must be fast" commented Worf.

"As to why the phasers are red?" asked Neela, confused as the new arrivals began lashing Borg targets.

"Sensors are detecting that these phasers are carrying biogenic agents." Seven of Nine was not one for panic, but a strong sense of urgency underpinned her words. "They are meant to target the Borg and may be another version of the Plague virus we've encountered."

"USS Vengeance to all non-Borg combatants in the area, we'll take it from here."

"Captain Neela, this can't be right…"

Worf turned to the questioning sensor officer. "What is it?"

"If my readings are correct, that ship has only a single person aboard."

"That is preposterous!" protested Worf. "A ship 800 meters long cannot be run by an individual!"

"Indeed it can" came a reply from the still-open comm channel. "We have done what needed to be, repurposing Dominion shipyards to create new combat ships capable of utterly annihilating the Borg. Our forces are searching the galaxy now for the source of this scourge."

"I would hazard a guess that the means used to construct these vessels is as antithetical to Federation ideals as the ships themselves?" snapped Worf.

"Indeed. Local unassimilated labor was somewhat reluctant. We offered sufficient encouragement."

In the meantime, all Borg combatants present either fled or were drifting in space as their crews died.

"I am Dominic Reed, and we are the saviors of the galaxy."

A/N: Yep, another reference to JJTrek with the _Vengeance_ -class, designed for biowarfare and operated by a single person each.


	44. Biological Weapons Solve Everything

**Chapter 44 - Biological Weapons Solve Everything**

"I can only guess at the response when we arrive back at DS9 with these, um, _friends_ " offered Worf to Neela, Seven and others.

"Given that the Combined Galactic Alliance War Council re-authorized extraordinary measures prior to our departure, it remains possible that the required majority will suspend allowing moral concepts to hinder the conclusion of this conflict."

Seven, logical as usual, and also dismissive of anything she deemed "irrelevant." Which was also normal.

"Our ships and probes have covered a quarter of the galaxy by now. In retrospect, we probably should have _started_ the search in the Delta Quadrant, but we didn't want to test our weapons against the most fortified enemy positions first!"

Seven inferenced aloud.

"You were at Qo'noS. You used stealth to enable you to test your biogenic weapon without being scanned."

"That is quite correct!" replied Dom Reed, happy someone figured it out.

"Even with superior faster-than-light propulsion, I find it improbable that your forces scanned a quarter of this galaxy. Explain!"

Reed allowed a cockiness to creep into his tone and posture.

"Well, you're forgetting something. We're the warriors Starfleet could never be. People like you" (he turned to Picard), "yes, you are known and have a reputation even in Section 31, would never fight a galaxy-consuming war. You can't break a rule without a good 'moral' reason. Why do you think Admiral Dougherty wanted to work with the So'na in the first place?"

"Do I even want to know how many of the Federation officers, politicians, and people I've dealt with whose morals I find lacking were or are part of your organization?" demanded Picard.

Dom smiled. "Probably not."

"Our ships are designed for combat and a minimal crew—usually one. The temporal stresses at those speeds are too much to protect hundreds of people…"

He knew this would lead to more questions, continuing before anyone could ask.

"Our ships are intended to travel from one system to the next at velocities not even matched by hyperdrives. Once a _Vengeance_ -class ship enters hyperspace, it can engage its warp drive as well for short bursts. At these speeds, such bursts are all that is required to cover immense distances in very small spans of time."

"The temporal stresses would be extreme" countered Seven. "How is this managed?"

"Even our neighbors' relativistic shielding isn't enough in hyperwarp. The Tal Shiar's work with Borg technology, specifically chroniton conduits, enables the crew compartment to remain in temporal sync while the rest of the ship ages rapidly, though less so than if no measures were taken. Each jump adds at least ten years to the spaceframe, and most ships become useless after five jumps."

"How successful have you been in deploying your anti-Borg weapon?"

Seven's inquiries were making her Federation allies squirm. That biogenic devices and warships were even a topic of casual discussion drew looks of disgust from others in the room.

"It looks like at least one person knows that sometimes you have to do horrible things to save society from terrible threats!" said Reed jovially. "So far, our tests have shown that the Plague MkIII mutates faster than the Borg can adapt. Being able to deploy it from orbit through phasers and torpedoes is very helpful when facing the Borg on the ground tends to result in near-instant death from this 'Force' the outsiders brought here."

"But what if we could deprive the Borg of drones and bolster our own ranks _at the same time_?" interjected Janeway. "We have developed a biogenic agent, derived from yours and work of our own scientists that enables us to capture drones and de-assimilate them."

"Captain Janeway is correct" continued Seven. "We have successfully tested this weapon and recovered thousands of Klingons."

B'Elanna Torres spoke up too.

"We've been building a new type of ship, better than these _Avengers_ we've been fighting with until now…"

"So you can fight!" mocked Reed as she tossed him a PADD.

"Those were our initial response" she replied. "O'Brien and I have been designing something else—something that takes the _Defiant_ up to the scale of the outsiders."

"Meanwhile the Borg are content to, do what?" asked Reed. "They could wipe us out, but they haven't! We've bombed three colonies and a remote-but-important hub world."

"Have you recovered any data nodes?" demanded Seven of Nine in her typical blunt fashion.

"Well, yes-several of them, but considering one fried itself when we tried to access it we've not attempted anything else."

Later discussions touched on the noted symbolism between the two anti-Borg factions' outlooks and the subsequent names given to their respective ships. The Combined Galactic Alliance had its "Unity" class, while Section 31 rode in on "Vengeance" with sister-ships carrying names like "Hammerstorm" or "Retribution."

"We are, after all, on the same side" insisted Captain Janeway. "We just disagree on the means to our shared end—victory over the Borg."

"Who cares?" bellowed an increasingly-exasperated Admiral Jason Proudmoore. "Just _decide!_ "

Jean-Luc Picard exhaled, himself impatient but not to the point of "trading our souls for convenience and expediency."

He continued in one of the speeches for which he was known across the Federation and even into the reaches of the Q Continuum itself.

"Don't you see? We are three parts of a whole that none of us could visualize before. When I was a child, model ships fascinated me. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of those built inside bottles, but, as you can imagine, not every attempt came out the way it was supposed to. At first, I was inclined to throw away failed models, treating them as worthless since it didn't match the holo that came with the kit. But then I realized the only failure was failure to perfectly reproduce what the kitmaker intended—that didn't mean I couldn't still build something worthwhile."

"Your point?" snapped Reed.

"Well, I was getting to that." Picard smiled, before returning to his story. Some people just wanted everything summed up into a single sentence despite the fact that life had more gray in it, more shades of reason than one-line answers could provide.

"The Federation was founded on guiding principles in support of an ideal view of the universe. I will be the first to admit that the circumstances we face now strongly suggest that sticking blindly to platitudes formed around Federation ideals will lead to our destruction."

Reed moved as if to speak, but Picard rolled right over him.

"Lest you think this to be an unconditional endorsement of the brutal methods of Section 31, need I remind you that a descent into barbarism where the ends always justify the means would make that organization no different than those we've opposed for centuries? Yet, the very reason the Federation created Section 31 was to allow it, in its own way, to protect itself from threats like these while avoiding publicly taking actions that would cross the very ideals on which it was founded."

He last turned to Proudmoore.

"Your society has soared to great heights, with a history longer than any of us here in this room could imagine. This in spite of its tendency to make war on itself, for governments to change every ten years, against a backdrop where any troublemaker can zip around the galaxy lighting more fires in a week than anyone could possibly hope to put out. Yet the technology you bring may be our only hope against the Borg, I will take sound strategic advice from anyone, even if it was an oppressive galactic empire."

The Admiral had no more chance of interjecting than his Section 31 counterpart.

"What we need, what we have to reach for now, is the best that each within our group has to offer! It reminds me of the checks and balances in the old United States—each must counter the worst impulses of the others for the benefit of us all. We can defeat the Borg if we stand together!"

Janeway applauded, and meant it.

"Classic Jean-Luc! Straight out of encounters with Q, of all people."

Her expression twisted—her own dealings with that being had been...less than enjoyable.


	45. Debating Through Destruction

**Chapter 45 - Debating Through Destruction**

Though the Combined Galactic Alliance found its resolve strengthened after what would later be dubbed a pivotal meeting of the minds, that did not magically allow disagreeing factions to simply drop their grievances even though the philosophical end seemed to have been settled for the moment.

"Neela, were it up to me you would be stripped of your command and demoted to crewman" lectured Admiral Roddenberry. "However, due to the testimony of both Worf and Seven of Nine, your rash actions at the Borg boronite processing facility will not result in disciplinary action at this time. However, you will be subject to close supervision."

He didn't add that the CGA needed anyone with even a shred of command ability, even those who were hotheaded and impulsive. Neela would later be told by none other than Commander Kira that Starfleet actually appreciated people who did the wrong thing for the right reason (despite all official protests to the contrary) ...sometimes.

"Just not when it jeopardizes the entire war effort!" finished the Commander.

Among those who advocated for harsher methods, a debate broke out between Sela and Dom Reed.

"We swore to take all _necessary_ measures to protect our societies" he argued. "Given changing circumstances, the risk calculation around Plague has changed. It is no longer _necessary_ now that this Unassimilator is available. In fact, the Unassimilator will do one better by bolstering our ranks!"

"You're wrong" shot back Sela. "We _know_ what will happen when the Plague is deployed— _dead drones_. Dead drones means _victory_. I've seen what they do in the labs, to bring someone back from being Borg. It doesn't always work as nicely as Seven of Nine. All these resources being spent on something with a 70% success rate under ideal conditions, for Klingons! Less for humans! Need I remind you most drones are closer to baseline humans than Klingons? You're forgetting doing what is necessary means minimizing uncertainty."

"At least someone's doing something productive" muttered Admiral Proudmoore after hearing these arguments and more. Quarrels among naval architects were acceptable. Turning the war effort into a philosophy class (as the so-called "intelligence triumvirate" consisting of Section 31, the Tal Shiar, and Klingon Intelligence had) was not.

"Regardless of your theoretical differences over issues of morality, fifty ships isn't enough!" fumed B'Elanna Torres. "Especially not when they can only hyperwarp five times before crumbling into dust!"

"If we could build more of these unimatrix-Omega multi-resonant singularity cores, we could take this Unity class into mass production" suggested O'Brien.

Torres almost threw her PADD.

"First off, I'm not calling the power system MR SOC. Second, each ship needs _eight of these?"_

"You are concerned about the boronite requirement. Your concern is irrelevant" said Seven of Nine. She handed over yet another PADD. "Analysis of data nodes recovered by Reed and his operatives reveals the locations of many boronite mining facilities. A large number of these facilities are poorly defended."

She kept to herself efforts directed at a particularly heavily encrypted node. Seven and some of those she worked with suspected it might contain data that could end the war, but weren't going to say anything in absence of conclusive evidence lest spirits be raised for no reason.

"I know you think you can build a larger core" said O'Brien sympathetically. "It's not that we don't believe you—it's just that we don't have enough time. Equipping each vessel with eight small cores means we can build them that much quicker."

Reed received a long leash from Proudmoore to conduct raids against these "B-targets."

"Steal it if you can, destroy it if you must" he'd been told.

 _Chief Engineer's Log, Stardate 57412.4: Those super-fast "hyperwarp" ships have been bringing back boronite by the isoton. The aging makes it somewhat more difficult to synthesize Omega molecues—we're only getting a 32% conversion rate by mass as opposed to 58% we saw previously, but it's still enough to work with. A couple Unity-class rolled off the line and have been conducting testing around Deep Space 9. I will freely sound like Harry. We are going to make it._

Even the implacable Odo cracked a smile at a parade of ships whose names were both inspiring and cheesy at the same time: USS _Bajor_ , USS _Gaia_ , USS _Steadfast_ … Either a list of Federation planets or names taken from "rousing, uplifting phrases." Kathryn Janeway refused to confirm or deny that she'd requested naming one of them _Café du Monde_ after an old coffeehouse on Earth.

Field tests conducted on hyperdrive-equipped USS _Protector_ indicated that the Nonlinear Stabilizing Engine Actuator could cause catastrophic failures at lightspeed.

"Do they just spit out a bunch of long-sounding words that happen to make the problem go away?" asked Proudmoore after hearing a solution in pieces from Torres, O'Brien, Paris, and Seven of Nine with contributions from Ezri Dax ("It's not me—thank Tobin"). "Also, that makes my head hurt."

"Amateur" whispered Tom, much to B'Elanna's amusement, after Proudmoore left earshot. "Besides, it's not like we have a monopoly on confusing technical terms. Could you tell me what a Thorsen field driver, null quantum field generator, or transpacitor are?"

She grinned maniacally. "Actually, yes I could. But you'd be snoozing harder than Muriel…"

Seven of Nine convened an emergency session of the War Council.

"My subgroup has extracted data from Section 31 reconnaissance vital to the war effort. We believe we have located what now operates as Unimatrix Zero One. Destroy it, destroy the Queen. Terminate the conflict."


	46. Dark Hive

**Chapter 46 - Dark Hive**

"So you would destroy us."

"The same could be said of assimilation" replied Seven of Nine. "Your version of perfection eliminates virtually all of what make the species of this galaxy unique."

"Unique and imperfect. I only want what's best for all of you."

"Does she think she's our mother?" whispered Janeway to her away team. Everyone stood back (weapons ready) leaving Seven of Nine to verbally parlay with their most hated enemy.

"The previous chamber contained dead, dying, and suffering individuals. Failures. If your argument revolves around your ability to move us closer to perfection, these rejects do not help your case."

It was here Combined Galactic Alliance forces learned not every drone acquired the Force. Some died. Many ended up with weak powers unsuitable for combat, useful only for parlor tricks. But with almost a whole galaxy of lifeforms, one-in-four success rates did not dissuade the Queen.

 _Order is slavery, there is only entropy._

By opening herself to the Force, the Borg Queen began to see flaws in an outlook previously thought to provide stepping stones toward perfection. The Borg could control much of the physical world down to atoms manipulated by nanoprobes. But how much effort and energy were wasted on fighting against the tendency toward entropy inherent in the universe itself? As a human once put it, why swim upstream?

 _Accepting entropy grants power._

Instead of fighting what was, channel it to useful ends. The fewer implants a drone possessed, the stronger his or her Force connection. Odd that ability scaled with the antithesis of what a drone was supposed to be.

 _Power brings victory._

She desired more. The ability to levitate a data node was insignificant next to the apparent ability to shoot electricity from one's fingertips or close an opponent's windpipe. The old Queen would have regarded using drones whose imperfections could be easily repaired as training dummies inefficient. This Queen no longer placed such a premium on the concept. In fact, she _enjoyed_ using her new powers to crush errant drones.

In a twist of fate, the being known as Kyle Lurtarn became more like a drone as she pried open his mind by technological means in order to learn more about his abilities while the Queen excised many of her own implants. Here, a conflict emerged as many of these bits of tech were responsible for helping her organize trillions of minds. Yet, in order to maximize her Force potential it became clear she would have to accept a trade-off.

"I accept the entropy this brings" she'd said, offloading more and more mundane management onto the increasingly-cybernetic Lurtarn. "This brings me power."

Power she demonstrated through combat with her own drones.

Shorn of nearly half her exoplating, the Queen traded stout for speed. Over months of digesting Lurtarn's own training experiences, she learned hand-to-hand combat not relying on buzzsaws or cutting beams but rather Force-enhanced strikes at vulnerable areas. The durability of Borg drones relied partially on the fact that most opponents didn't survive long enough to pinpoint weak spots, but if the drone's weapons and assimilation tubes could not strike the enemy, the average Borg was a slow-moving automaton unable to land blows on its opponent.

Certainly, the Queen's attacks had to contend with Borg shielding, but such shielding relied on its generation machinery remaining intact. Which could not be guaranteed against abilities that could reach around it as though it did not exist, tear out key components, and leave the drone unprotected. That she was, after all, the Queen, who knew the exact weakness of Borg technology also helped.

The first few outings were problematic because the drones (under orders from Lurtarn) refused to attack their Queen even as she dismantled them. Annoyed, she altered their ocular implants so they would visually perceive her as a threat.

"Result of Combat Test 34, target Two of Eight, Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. Further examination of Lurtarn's memories has resulted in a seven percent reduction in time from engagement to destruction. Using telekinetic Force powers against critical nodes within the drone reduces its threat level to only fifteen percent higher than its baseline species."

Having gained understanding of both how to obtain these powers and what they could do, the Queen set out to create tactical drones manifesting such abilities for use in attacks against the galaxy at large.

 _Victory breaks the chains of false order._

Like any weapon, such drones had to be tested before unleashing them on unsuspecting foes. Pressing ahead against poor conversion rates (one in seven), the Queen produced units bearing combat-capable powers such as "Force Pull" and "Force Crush." She kept Kyle Lurtarn's lightsaber for herself, despite the fact that she'd sliced off her right hand with it (this being the point where Borg rapid maturation chambers came in hand-new hand in two days).

The first drones proved disappointing. Their rote application of new abilities left the Queen underwhelmed. She therefore took the risk of granting increased autonomy to these drones, taking comfort in the fact that her powers far outstripped their own. Killswitches were also on hand-not that any drone knew its own termination codes even now, but better safe than having to destroy half the lab to contain rampaging experiments. These new soldiers still shared the goal of spreading the Collective's influence, but assimilation was not part of their purview. They were deployed to destroy the enemy, not convert it. Against traditional tactical drones, comparatively unconventional tactics led to kill scores of 3:1. Adaptation took a new form. Rather than focusing on resisting attacks, Force-imbued drones focused on finding new ways to attack, often striking from a distance using telekinetic powers to defeat the defenses of their opponents before moving in to destroy helpless targets.

Lurtarn, now more machine than man, warned in his monotone of the dangers inherent in "creating monsters." She found it odd that a Jedi Guardian who would "never" engage in much of this behavior knew so much about it, only to be told "in order to defeat people like you, my training emphasized understanding of how such powers come to be."

 _The Force frees my mind and body._

Thus came the advent of drones who would yank phaser rifles from the hands of their enemies. Ironically, many tactics developed to deal with Borg were unnecessary against less-sturdy opponents such as Federation troops. Simple disarmament and carting away proved sufficient in most cases. The more resistant species like Klingons would still submit when deprived of air via a combination of Force Crush and Force Choke. Such minor oxygen deprivation damage could be repaired later.

Eventually, the best drones could fight as though in zero gravity, running up walls, leaping over the heads of their enemies, and blasting them with limited Force Lightning. It was these that fought against the invasion force whose leaders now stood tall over the Dark Queen. And it was these that despite their best efforts fell to two things almost no Force user could withstand forever: sheer numbers and orbital strikes.

A/N: Yes, I just used a Borg-ified version of the Code of the Sith.


	47. False Cadence

**Chapter 47 – False Cadence**

"So if this intelligence is right, we're headed straight for the belly of the beast!" announced Captain Janeway to her crew. "We, along with every ship in our fleet, will attempt to end this now. Today, we retake our home, not just for ourselves but for every sapient species in the Milky Way!"

Other captains gave similar speeches as the irregular group hurtled toward their latest target.

"Just so you're aware" warned Proudmoore to the War Council, "this will likely deplete the last of our resources, especially hypermatter. So we get one shot."

"Then we must make it count" replied Admiral Roddenberry.

Hundreds of ships descended on a planet with no name other than being designated "Borg Target One." Swarms of _Avengers_ strafed orbiting platforms and defending vessels. Though onrushing tactical fusion cubes were something to be legitimately frightened of, even Neela's hotheaded Bajoran groups held formation as ships were destroyed. Some in only one or two shots.

USS _Vengeance_ , two jumps past its predicted end-of-life, did exactly as its name implied, screening _Vedek_ group as several Borg vessels of unknown design bore down on it.

"No!"

Captain Janeway recognized several Voth city ships among the defenders, and one headed straight at the inexperienced Neela's fleet of _Avengers_.

"Fire! Fire!" screeched the fire-forged commander. She knew without rotation her ships would be forced to recharge for too long, but she didn't know what else to do with something resembling a gaping maw closing in fast.

"Sensors are… _What is he doing_?" bellowed Harry Kim.

In a flash, USS _Vengeance_ disappeared.

"Hyperspace transit!" barked Kim. "But the destination is…that's impossible!"

An explosion explained exactly where _Vengeance_ had gone—straight into the mouth of the former Voth ship bent on consuming anything it could catch. Said ship blew apart under the force of a ship traveling millions of times faster than light in a vacuum impacting inside.

The rushed attack meant only a few _Unitys_ were present, but their advanced weapons chewed through Borg just as easily as turbolasers imported from a galaxy far, far away.

"Mr. Worf, initiate phase two!"

Picard's group moved to initiate bombardment of a heavily-shielded area on the planet's surface. Unlike theater shields used by the New Republic, one could not simply walk through this barrier. As a consequence, three hours of continuous fire were applied to it in order to collapse the field, after which hordes of Y-85 Titans descended.

"We've lost twenty-seven ships" noted Proudmoore. "Mostly among smaller vessels, though two Vengeance and one Unity are confirmed destroyed. Continue the assault!"

AT-DS units deployed first, screening their charges against retaliatory Borg strikes. Proudmoore, Janeway, Picard, and the rest did their level best to keep the Borg from strafing their ground forces, but it proved impossible when Borg fleets were almost blotting out the stars as they hyperspaced in from seemingly everywhere.

"At the current rate of attrition, we have less than one hour before we are crushed" warned Tuvok. "If the Queen's failure to attack Deep Space 9 represented a strategy, it appears that the end goal was to concentrate us in an area without static defenses, after which we would be destroyed."

Dom Reed was dead by his own hand to save the lives of Neela's inexperienced band of Bajoran fighters. But others from his organization secretly loaded their _Vengeances_ with Plague, and now chose to make this fact known.

"Why would we need biogenic weapons?" demanded Jean-Luc Picard. "We have that…that Star Destroyer, dreadnaught, whatever! We don't need…"

"I hate to shatter your illusions, Captain, but the reason you are all still alive is mainly due to the fact that Redemption has been absorbing the vast majority of Borg fire for the duration of this attack. I have lost half my weapons, two thirds of my shields, and have had to repel boarding parties four times. In addition, seven corvettes have also been destroyed."

"Do not panic just yet" came another voice, Seven of Nine on the surface. "We believe we have found…hive cluster…searching for the Borg Queen."

"You've always been my favorite, Seven…"

"Why have you called me, us!-here?"

"To experience perfection."

Seven of Nine may have had stunted emotions compared to most humans, but the level of disgust she felt now at the Queen's pronouncement was as normal of an emotion as she'd ever experienced.

"Your version of perfection involves surrendering individuality and giving up what makes us unique" she shot back.

"Your perception is outdated. As you can see, were I merely interested in your assimilation you would be a drone already."

Those who'd gone with the former drone could hardly disagree-legions of beings surrounded them. However, unlike virtually every Borg they'd seen, some seemed to be... _missing parts_.

"I have transcended the simple machinery of our old selves" continued the Queen. "The Force is power, and power is freedom."

Jaina Raynor stepped forward, blue blade blazing.

"If it is the Dark Side you wield, conflict will be inevitable."

"Your minds are so small" taunted the Queen. "You think in the present, not the future. You think only of yourselves, not the greatness of your species."

"Our species are great the way they are" interjected Janeway. "We…"

The Queen launched herself at Jaina, green lightsaber in hand. Those observing knew what to expect, at least in theory. What resulted far exceeded many holovids shown by Proudmoore behind closed doors demonstrating the capability of Jedi. Raynor and the Queen appeared to wield not sabers but waves of energy that moved at impossible speeds, crashing into each other again and again.

Jaina scored the first hit, drawing a cry of surprise from her opponent.

Drones stood on one side while Seven and the rest of the away team stood on the other. Unable to get clear shots (nobody wanted to risk hitting Jaina) they kept phaser rifles pointed at the ground.

The squeal of sabers continued. An angry red gash appeared in Jaina's side, but she kept fighting. The Queen lifted her by the neck, intending to squeeze the life from the Guardian. Instead, the Borg leader sprawled backward, a victim of her own attack rebounding as Jaina shielded herself. Jaina's aerobatics became ever quicker and she made full use of the environment, bounding off consoles, deflecting away from drones, and even using some of the assembled Borg as step-stools to vault onto catwalks far above.

"You cannot hide from me" shouted the Queen. "Your powers are weak!"

Seven turned to her Captain. "I believe the Queen is losing control of her emotions. This is very unlike how Borg should behave."

Blue lightning arced from the Queen's fingertips to Jaina's hiding spot, causing the Jedi Guardian to lose her grip and fall-she'd been clinging to the underside of a catwalk to get the drop her tormenter. Using the Force, Jaina propelled herself and drove both her feet hard into the Queen's shoulders. Sweeping around, she attempted to slice the Queen in half but found her blade blocked. Only Force Speed allowed her to avoid having her own legs removed by a retaliatory strike.

In that moment of distraction, Seven of Nine let loose a beam from her compression phaser rifle that the Queen was too preoccupied to deflect. It struck one of the few places exoplating still covered, minimizing its impact but causing a sharp turn.

"You wish to join this conflict as well?"

"You attack my friends. You assimilate millions against their will. You have seen that I will always betray you. Species 10026. I am no longer a drone and do not answer to you."

The Queen debated which would be more painful-forcing Jaina to watch her torment Seven of Nine or the reverse. She settled on the latter; she would exploit Seven's compassion for newfound friends to her own advantage. Aiming that painful blue lightning, she snarled as Jaina's blade turned it aside. Swift movement of a hand removed that obstacle. The Queen's maniacal grin was illuminated for all to see as she poured her hate, her anger, and her rage into the now-stricken Jaina.

Nobody had to give any orders. Phaser rifles lit into the cackling madwoman, but had very little effect.

Until a very large drone stepped up behind her, reached under her arms, and pulled back so hard the crack of bone could be heard over electric arcing and phaser fire.

Seven of Nine widened the beam on her rifle, and applied it full-power to the Queen's hands, causing them to spray Force Lightning everywhere for a few seconds before dropping.

Jaina's lightsaber whirled through the air, making a U-shaped turn that cut both of her attacker's legs off at the knees. As it whirled back toward its owner, the gargantuan drone responsible for snapping the Queen's arms stepped into its path. Too late, Jaina adjusted its course as a head hit the ground and rolled to a stop next to her.

"Kyle…"


	48. DC al Coda

**Chapter 48 – D.C. al Coda**

"You will take us to the primary unicomplex, and you will shut down all drones."

Several frantic cries intruded on Seven's demands that the Queen "comply immediately." Two Starfleet officers dragged the shinless drone by her arms, not caring for any pain this might cause.

"Redemption can't take much more of this!" warned Proudmoore. It hadn't helped that several _Vengeance_ -class starships, the ones who'd announced they were carrying Plague against orders, hung back and refused to engage.

"I have taken 50% casualties" reported Neela, sounding professional and collected for the first time. "We cannot maintain this posture forever."

"We must decide quickly" intoned Tuvok.

"Decide on what?" asked Captain Janeway.

"Whether to, as some have put it, 'sell our souls' in order to save them."

"We have the weapon" came an exhausted-sounding voice. "Three Vengeances were loaded with enough Plague to saturate this entire sector. It would wipe out every drone and end this!"

"You heard him" said Seven, letting anger show through. "There are those among us who do not approve of the use of these weapons, but it is unlikely we will be able to restrain those who possess them."

The group moved deeper into the complex, through chamber after chamber of suffering—half-finished drones hobbled about. Piles of corpses stacked many meters high.

"Even if it was my desire to end this conflict, I could not" replied the Queen.

"You no longer hear the voices…"

"That job fell to a man you called Kyle Lurtarn" she answered. "His, untimely departure, means that the Collective is now leaderless. An animal without function, a machine without programming."

"Lurtarn was running the collective?" demanded Jaina.

"Look at this!" Janeway dragged the Guardian to a nearby console. "He was assimilated, but it wasn't your ordinary drone job. He had more processing hardware than any drone I've ever seen before. Even the Hansens never observed anything like this!"

"It must have driven him mad" gasped Jaina. "So that's why…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

"If you cannot stop this, who can?" The usually emotionless Seven of Nine, previously known as Annika Hansen, began to panic.

"We can" came the word from orbit. "Let us use the weapon, and strike down our enemies!"

"So you would destroy us."

Ultimately, angry screams rang out as someone commanded the biogenic weapon ships to fire, fire, fire!

"Jam in the launch systems! The high-yield canisters won't move!" cried one surprised captain.

"Of course they won't." A new voice, one not all present recognized. "We made sure of that."

" _TRAITORS!_ " screeched Sela, revealing her presence aboard the stolen _Prometheus_ , beyond her previous yelling. "I promised you everything, new bodies, immunity to the phage, and this is how you repay me?"

 _At least someone got me a decent cloaking device…_

"Your empty promises of turning us into war machines may have bought you the loyalties of Mahburge or Dengue, but the New Republic gave us what we were really after with no strings attached. Those craven, mad scientists tried to make Denara Pel mean nothing more than outcast, betrayer of Vidiian society, but it I who cast you out!"

"Denara, I admire your principles, but…" Janeway found herself cut off.

"If we win with this weapon, we'll be no better than the Vidiians you condemned for killing entire colonies to survive. Do you really want that?"

"Captain!" Seven of Nine pulled her commander's attention to a large sensor readout. "An interdimensional rift is forming. It is larger than anything I encountered during my time with the Collective. The closest item in size would be the wormhole…"


End file.
